What do you remember from your matric year? The acne and teen heartbreak were hard enough, right? Now imagine adding rotational learning, masks and social distancing into the mix. A big shout-out, then, to the class of 2021. ✊🏽 The results are out for Independent Examinations Board (IEB) or private schools, and students achieved a 98.06% pass rate, higher than in 2020 and 89.2% of IEB students qualified to pursue degrees.
The results for government schools will be published in the newspapers tomorrow. This, after a Pretoria High Court ruling in favour of AfriForum and two other parties, who challenged the Department of Basic Education’s unilateral decision to stop publishing results publicly, citing the Protection of Personal Information Act. It’s business as usual for the public school matrics of 2021, who can also collect their results from their schools tomorrow.
So, what can we look forward to in the year ahead? Rotational learning was a supposedly temporary solution which the education department wants to continue this year. But NPO Equal Education and other organisations say that scholars, especially those from underprivileged backgrounds, suffer more from this arrangement. They argue that reduced restrictions, vaccinations, and new evidence around transmission mean schools can restart full-time. An academic study last year found that 750 000 students dropped out of school during the pandemic – the highest rate since the survey started in 2002. Opinions are divided on this but it increasingly looks like scrapping rotational learning is best. 🤞🏽
This article appeared as part of The Wrap, 20 January 2022. Sign up to receive our weekly updates.
