Pretoria - The Basic Education Department has cleared confusion over the matric pass rate after a daily newspaper disputed its legitimacy.
According to an article published on Friday by the Sowetan, the real pass rate is 57 percent, as opposed to the 67.8 percent announced on Thursday by the department.
During a live interview on Radio 702, Chief Director of National Exams, Dr Nkosinathi Sishi, maintained that the 2010 matric pass rate is 67.8 percent. "537 543 candidates wrote, 364 513 passed. If you divide those two numbers, you will get the same figure of 67.8 percent," Dr Sishi said.
He explained that the newspaper had used the number of students enrolled, instead of the number of candidates who actually wrote exams, to calculate the pass rate.
"The enrolled number is the number of candidates, who at the beginning of each year, go and register to write matric in the schools.
"The reason we publish those figures is that we would like the public to know, for example, schools that will get 100 percent pass but they got that by weeding out poor candidates in their system and leaving those who might give the institution a good name," Dr Sishi explained.
He added that it was important for the department to show how many learners enrolled and when the entries were done (usually in March). Some candidates enroll earlier but drop out later on.
"We also provide the number of candidates who entered [the system] and of those entered, how many actually sat for exams.
"The Sowetan calculated the figures of those enrolled based on both full and part time [candidates]. These include 82 000 candidates that enrolled part time, of which only 41 000 wrote. Even if we were to use that figure, the whole calculation is incorrect in terms of [what] Sowetan [published]."
While expressing his disappointment about the article, Dr Sishi acknowledged that it was in the department's best interest to educate the nation, hence it came forward to explain the confusion.
