Dept shoulders blame for matric results: DG

SA's matric results are expected to be released tomorrow

The Department of Education Director-General, Duncan Hindle, says any matric learner who has not managed to pass the exams is in some way a victim of either a lack of support from the department generally, or suitable teaching from their own teachers.

Analysts predict the results – which will be released tomorrow – will not be significantly different from that of last year, even though more pupils wrote than ever before.

The education department says the results will give a clear indication of how challenges of the year were dealt with by the various provinces and schools.

"We need to face up to that. Many of our learners have been let down by the system and that is why they've failed,” said Hindle.

The National Professional Teachers organisation (Naptosa) agrees, and says the situation will have to be addressed urgently.

“We must realise that the system needs to change because thousands of learners will again fail and that has been the situation for years without it appropriately being addressed. It must become priority in the new year, we need to find out what is going wrong,” said Naptosa President Dave Balt.

Beyond tomorrow, the education department says it has recognised that quality education is lacking. And this will be its priority, not just next year, but during the next decade with teacher training and resources being the focus of its intervention.

Close to 600 000 matric pupils are expected to flock to their schools tomorrow to check their performances.

The SABC's News Break mobile service will have detailed matric results as soon as they become available early tomorrow morning. Just call 082 152, select option 6, and follow the instructions. Students will need their exam and ID numbers to access the results. Calls are charged at standard value added service rates.