Wednesday, 14 January 2025: The South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Free State Province (FS) congratulates the Matric Class of 2025 for achieving an improved national pass rate of 88 per cent. The Party in the province also commends the consistently high year-on-year performance rate by the Free State province, with the class of 2025 securing an excellent 89.3 per cent.

The SACP in the province salutes the collective efforts of all stakeholders, inclusive of political leadership, administrative and departmental staff as well as civil society champions and trade unions for their selfless effort  and contribution. In particular, the SACP in the province applauds all the learners, all officials and departmental leadership under MEC Dr Mamiki Maboya for the consistency and hard work in 2025. The cycle resets yet again, and the Party calls for renewed and intensified efforts in 2026, drawing lessons from these results.

The SACP urges everyone to view the results as a mechanism providing insight into the integrated performance in the education system and offering an opportunity to learn from each other and implement targeted interventions for improvements that best aid the learners and those involved in the system to do even better. Society should abandon the tendency to view the results in negative and unhealthy competitive terms between provinces, MECs, districts, schools and learners, often based on the overall percentage without paying attention to detail. Such negativity drains energy from social partners in the sector and at times even leads to some learners dying by suicide. 

Whilst the 89.3 per cent is commendable, the SACP notes with concern that there has been a decline in mathematics pass rate to 64 per cent whilst at the same time the number of learners taking up mathematics is very low (12,734) relative to mathematics literacy with 23,740 learners. Marginal increase in physical science performance is noted and the fact that 87.7 per cent of schools obtained results between 80-100 percent is commendable. The national drop in distinctions in mathematics and physical science is, however, a cause for serious concerns.

The disparities between schools based on race and class, infrastructure provision, and teacher-to-learner ratio remain a challenge that must be resolved. All schools, especially those in quantile 1-3 located in historically disadvantaged areas, should be properly resourced to similar standards as most of the quantile 4 and 5 schools for improved quality of learning. The SACP in the province further urges the department of education to investigate the continued practice of modularisation by some schools in order to influence statistical pass rates. The SACP also calls on the department of education to track and trace learners who are lost in the education system since enrolment at Grade R to matriculation. These learners also require special integrated interventions inclusive of, for instance, the department of social development. 

The preparation of learners in terms of subject streams offered should take into consideration both existing and potential economic sectors that should absorb learners in their post tertiary studies. Our province requires an economic strategy that directs our education sector to produce a highly skilled workforce to develop instruments of production and expand the productive capacity of the province to address challenges of unemployment and under-development. This requires government to deploy sufficient resources to enable learners and teachers to continually improve. In this regard, the SACP calls on the leadership of the province and department of education and all social partners to play an active role in encouraging learners to take up science, technology, engineering, mathematics and ICT as gateway subjects. The SACP calls for increased budgetary allocation to education, rather than austerity, because this will be an investment into the future of the province and country.

As the Party, we encourage those who did not make it not to despair and pursue many available alternative options for further education and training.

ISSUED BY THE SACP FREE STATE PROVINCE

Contact:

Bheke Stofile – SACP Free State Provincial Secretary  
Mobile: 071 600 4899 

Phillip Kganyago – SACP Free State Provincial Spokesperson
Mobile: 071 896 0157

ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY

FOUNDED IN 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA.
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