Johannesburg - Government’s decision to
lower the maths pass mark by 20 percent in some grades is “a disastrous and silly decision” that will hurt poor black children.
This is according to Wits University vice-chancellor, Professor Adam Habib, as he lashed out at the Department of Basic Education for announcing the special condonation dispensation allowing pupils in grades 7, 8 and 9 who do not achieve 40 percent in maths to be pushed to the next grade if they pass all other subjects. Before this, learners needed at least 40 percent to pass the year.
The reduction in the pass mark has met with wide criticism, and the department has since sought to defend its decision. On Friday, spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said the decision was to ensure pupils who failed to obtain 40 percent in maths but passed other subjects were not disadvantaged.
At present pupils have to - as well as pass two language subjects - pass one at a minimum of 50 percent and maths at a minimum of 40 percent.
“In essence, what the policy says is that even if you pass all your other subjects with distinctions but got less than 40 percent for maths, you failed the year,” Mhlanga said.
He added that the condonation was only applicable to senior phase pupils and applicable for the “2016 cohort of learners while we are at this point of policy review”.
However, Professor Habib was critical of the decision. “I think it’s a disastrous decision, I think it’s an utterly silly decision.
“The problem with downgrading our schooling system, maths and science, is we are more focussed on getting numbers through than caring what the quality is, and we are paying the costs.
“And the people who are paying the cost for it are poor, black working-class kids in a country where we have a dearth of skills.
“And that’s the tragedy of the system.
“Would you rather do what we did in the secondary schooling system and send poor pupils to terrible schools?
“We are last in Africa in maths and science. Why? Because we send poor students to terrible schools. If you want to give your child better education, you take them to a model C school.”
Professor Habib suggested that some of the problems experienced by higher education institutions were partly as a result of the government’s misguided transformative agenda, as shown by the condonation dispensation decision.
“The way we transform our education system, the way we transform our universities, must be thoughtful - because if you do it in a thoughtless way, you destroy it. I want poor students that have access to top-class world universities.
“That’s what transformation is all about.
“Transformation is not to get poor people to get access to sh*tty schools. You see what happens in township schools, they are completely dysfunctional.
“Do they truly want me to make Wits dysfunctional? What type of logic is that?”