The country’s education system is worse today than the “gutter education” that the youth of 1976 gave their lives to overthrow.
On Thursday night, prominent academic and Struggle hero Mamphela Ramphele launched one of the most stinging critiques yet of the much vaunted matric pass rate, saying it was deceptive, consigning thousands to a life that promised neither further education nor employment.
Addressing the sixth annual Solomon Mahlangu education lecture at the University of Johannesburg, Ramphele lashed out at the 30 percent pass benchmark, saying it degraded education standards and was used for political purposes.
“Maths literacy… what is that? It’s worse than the arithmetic I did under Bantu education. (Former education minister) Kader Asmal fell for micropolitics when, under his watch, a 40 percent pass rate suddenly became 70 percent,” she said.
Ramphele also trashed the 70.2 percent pass rates achieved by last year’s matriculants.
“There was a great razzmatazz about the ‘historic’ 70.2 percent, but this performance was deceptive – less that 500 000 people showed up to write their matric exams; 539 102 students (who were in Grade 1, 12 years prior) disappeared from the system. The Department of Education must tell us what happened to those children.”
Ramphele said even those matriculants who had passed with the “so-called bachelor’s pass” didn’t fare well at university because the standard of their pass was low.
She also cited figures of those in the 18- to 24-year-old bracket who are not in education or employment, commonly referred to as Neets. In 2007, the number of Neets in the country was estimated at 2.8 million.
“Every year this figure grows by 500 000… Now there are about 4 million so-called Neets,” Ramphele said.
She urged all South Africans to take an interest in the goings on of the government.
“Both black and white people are wounded (by the past), that’s why it’s easy for government to do as they please. We are dependent, we feel helpless… You have people saying ‘What can I do?’. For God’s sake, you are a shareholder of this state. You should tell your managers what they should do.
“Ignorance is no excuse… Citizens must inform themselves, just as shareholders have to ensure they have information on the companies they invest in,” Ramphele said.
She said people were suppressed by the “myth that South Africans were freed by a single agent, the ANC”.
“(Nelson) Mandela, in his wisdom, (kept saying) it was a collective effort (that included ordinary people),” Ramphele said. - The Star