Dear Helen Zille The Cape Argus reported on 15 January 2014 that: Premier Helen Zille has been one of the biggest critics of the 2013 matric exam results, but yesterday she conceded that the education system had improved under president Jacob Zumas administration. The entire debate has been about those at the weakest end of the system, but today we focus on the strongest. I will say that the education system has turned around. I dont think the education system has turned around because there are no schools from the townships or the cape flats in the top 20 schools for 2013 in the Western Province. This is a serious indictment on the Western Cape Education Department and the teachers at these schools. My prediction for 2014 is that the top schools in the province wont change dramatically. I dont think you can say that education has turned around because what we see every year is pretty obvious in terms of the quality of the results coming out of schools in the southern suburbs, northern suburbs, Stellenbosch and Paarl. There was a big noise about the retention rate in the Western Cape. A 48% retention rate. Unfortunately Helen Zille and Donald Grant thats not good enough. I certainly didnt celebrate when I read that article. Most of the schools in the top 20 have a long history of excellence and a culture of academic excellence. Most of the schools in the townships and the cape flats dont. Over to you. I was at school in the 70s and the 80s and back then there were only a few (so called coloured) schools who got distinctions year in and year out. Has this number dropped or increased over the last 25 years? An increase in the pass rate from 75.1% to 85.1% (during your term of office) needs to be unpacked. Whats the quality of the pass? Are the kids scraping through? How do their results compare with those in the top 20? Will they be able to compete at university level with the top 20 mob? In this province we should only start celebrating and talking about a turn around in education once we see the retention rate reach more than 90% and we see schools from the townships and the cape flats competing for places in the top 20.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Jan 2014 19:42:41 +0000
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