As hoards of hopeful matric graduates queue outside South African universities this week, Wonkie thought it appropriate to start off 2013 with an article celebrating the phenomenal success of the ANC education department strategy.
The matric pass rate in 2012 was a staggering 73.9%. It has been increasing year-on-year since 2009 when the national pass rate was only 60.6%. Wonkie interviewed some 2012 matric students to gauge their reaction:
“The ANC is doing an amazing job with the education department,” said Johannes Poggenpoel, an enthusiastic 2012 graduate of the Gauteng education system.
“At the current growth rate, they will be easily looking at achieving like a 160% matric pass rate by 2018. I really, really pray Angie Motshekga stays on as education minister forever… she’s simply the best!”
But credit cannot go to Angie Motshekga alone. There was no doubt a significant team effort with DG Bobby Soobrayan, the rest of the education department and even Blade Nzimande, the minister of higher education all making significant contributions.
Since Wonkie is sometimes accused of being too negative, Wonkie decided it was high time to analyse and praise one of the ANC’s greatest success stories since taking power in 1994. Some in-depth investigative journalism actually revealed very little about the ANC education strategy. Trevor Manuel and Collins Chabane, the chaps irresponsible for planning and measurement against the government agenda were unavailable for comment. Rumour has it that they were busy strategising on the ANC 300 year plan, the first draft of which is rapidly approaching its March, 2040 deadline.
Not to disappoint readers, Wonkie commissioned its own think tank to reverse engineer the department of education’s winning formula. First, Wonkie determined the key variables in play and what the sensible measures of success might be (Wonkie expects that this is what Trevor and Collins spent the last 3 years working on although nobody can really be sure since it’s a well-kept ANC secret). These were the results Wonkie’s think tank came up with:
- Education Department: Strategic Variables
- Public mindset and attitudes about education
- Schooling infrastructure
- Teacher capabilities and salaries
- Matric subject pass mark
- Volume of material to be examined
- Difficulty of syllabus
- Education Department: Key Performance Indicators
- Ability to get jobs after graduation
- Ability to cope with tertiary education
- Teacher morale
- Student discipline and attendance
- Textbook delivery
- National matric pass rate
Then, following what appears to be standard protocol within ANC government departments, Wonkie’s think tank took about 28% of the annual department budget and awarded a tender to the most incompetent of 3 submissions from BEE companies. In our case, McKintinsey & Co Strategy Constuntants were awarded the education strategy tender.
The constuntants (sic) squirreled away for days and a few hundred million Rand later, came up with the following consulting report which was amazingly consistent what happened in the education department last year (click on the image to view the summary report):
Wonkie is still trying to determine whose cunning idea it was to not deliver textbooks for an entire province until almost the end of the school year. Sources within the education department have hinted that in 2013, many textbooks will be withheld nationwide following the successful pilot in Limpopo last year.
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Matric graduates may be alarmed to discover that scraping through on 31% makes it rather difficult to secure that investment banking position they’ve always wanted. If you fall into that bucket, have no fear – help is near. The national ANC job creation strategy is sure to have you working in no time. If you aren’t one of the 18 jobless people affected by that strategy, then you can always try your luck and play lottery online or click here instead if you’ve decided to relocate to India.
It doesn’t take getting 20% for mathematics to realise that winning a lottery is a long shot. More adventurous people who feel the laws of maths and statistics (which say in the long run you won’t win!) don’t apply to them, should check out these online casinos in India or some of the top online casinos in South Africa to exercise their own brand of statistics.
Seriously for a moment though, those matriculants whose results will not carry them through into either tertiary education, or a job may well want to consider entrepreneurship as a constructive way forward. If you’re going to gamble, then the only smart option is to take a chance on yourself.
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Related articles on education in South Africa and the 2012 matric results:
- The amazing Matric pass rate of South Africa
- Education in South Africa
- Outcome based education
- Julius Malema matric results
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LOL… I take it the education strategy consultant report summary you managed to get your hands on was backed up by 300 pages of drivel as is usually the case?
Schooling in South Africa is a mess and it’s typical that the government uses some meaningless measure (that is easily declared politically) to evaluate the situation. One need only to look at the unemployment rate in South Africa for young school leavers to see symptoms of the underlying rot in the education department.
I think we should all be home schooling…
ANC Strategy to keep the MASSES Uneducated and in the Stone Age as WELL EDUCATED (Private HIGHER Education Schools and Colleges) Black Voters will NEVER vote for the ANC. The Government Standard of Education is of a VERY LOW Standard and does not come near the Standards of what the Standards were during the OLD Government. (Note NOT REGIME as there never was a Regime. We have one now, One Party Regime) You need 30% to pass, never mind the 50% to show that you at LEAST TRIED.
To many ANC votes will be LOST and they are OUT.
Spot on – well put!
I just weep for all those ‘matriculants’ who are joining the ranks of the hopeless unemployed. For them freedom means nothing.
Freedom is having a GOOD EDUCATION, a decent job, food in your stomach and a roof over your head.
The government declaration of an ever improving pass rate is hogwash aimed at the vast undereducated majority who will continue to vote for the ANC until they are educated enough to know better. Therefore a real improvement in education would be counter productive for the ANC. We also have a situation where the perceived rich (BEE, EE, whites indians, some coloureds) are all that the economy can support, therefore unemployment is seen as necessary to keep the fat cats in business. But unemployment could lose you an election unless you keep telling the majority lies.
After reading Johannes Poggenpoel’s commentary I realized that we have a huge problem. The pupils really are becoming less educated as every year goes by. It is as if he did not know about the text book debacle.
Thanks Jewel. it is the Holy Truth. We do not need the Malema Type in Southern Africa. God Forbid a Ethiopia in South Africa.
The ROT of the COUNTRY and The Pupils, of South Africa. Blade Mzimande with his screeching voice and What ever Education he has, is a DISGRACE to the Pupils. It is about time that these Pupils and Parents start filing Civil suite against this Prick and the Government for there Failures at School. And take Zuma to task for keeping them Uneducated to achieve Votes for the ANC and His Position. Only Uneducated People with there Stone Age Beliefs will vote for this Prick.
And I am a Boerkie with MANY ZULU Friends and NO Xhosa arse holes as friends.
The ANC government has had 18 years to resolve the education crisis all they have done is lie, drop and change the standards to give the impression of improvement. SADTU is part of this conspiracy to keep useless teachers and unscrupulous administrators in employment. Instead of telling us that the non delivery of text book is not part of her policy and that she is not responsible she must resign or make herself along with her cadre deployed henchpersons all responsible. Some (many) people must be fired.
Every year we see on TV those head teachers whose schools were successful at matric, they all have one thing in common they insist on low absentee rates for both their staff and pupils, and they expect their staff to perform at the best of their ability. Simple formula, none of them complain about poorly qualified teachers eve though undoubtedly they do have them.
Schools that do not perform are never on TV, probably their heads are looking after their taxi fleets or whatever. They must be fired.
HAHA… that strategy report is excellent… McKintinsey & Co!! Guess if you were ever on the receiving end of one of those garbage consulting reports you’d think this was hilarious.
On a more serious not, I think the education department in South Africa deserves a real kick as does the ANC leadership. It is probably the most important area for them to get right but they are too busy lining their own pockets.
The first thing the ANC did in 1994 was to close all the Teacher’s Training Colleges. Supposedly too white for them. Now they are paying for it. Alan Payton said it best “Cry the beloved country”
Clivealex, you are correct there. It is about time that the Public and Taxpayer consider taking this Matter to the Con. court and have these Institutions re-instated for the Better of South Africa and not in Favour of the ANC that want`s to keep there Voters in the Stone Age and prevent them from getting a GOOD Education by Properly Qualified Teachers that at LEAST went to a College for Further Studies in the Direction they would like there careers to go. a Doctor does not get of the “Matric” ( Hahahahaha!!!,What Grade of Matric.) bench and walk into a Hospital and start operating, now how in hell can a Poorly Qualified South African grade “Matric” pupil walk into a school and start giving Classes as a Teacher. What a ANC JOKE, ZOOOOOMMMAAA STYLE Education, Standard 2 or Grade 2 and he is a President.???? Of course,,,, Chosen by the UNEDUCATED 40 Million Illiterate Zulu Nation and other African Tribes from the Stone Age.
Angie – do yourself a BIG favour and have a chat with Aaron (Motswaledi) – he might have a bit of spare change in his budget to prescribe a TABLET for every pupil. Then no-one will care about division – long or short – except, of course, those of you who are worried that improved education will divide the voters enough for you to be out of a fat-cat job with all its perquisites (sorry; I know it’s above your education level, but just ask Blade for an explanation.) (Note to Blade: tell her most people say “perks” – then she’ll understand).
Who said there are no tablets for stupidity ? ! ? ! !!!!!
JZ does not want the people of SA to be better educated than him.
Pst – keep it quiet everyone but Dirk the DORK is still alive after the end of the world and has just posted a comment (utter nonsense as you might expect) on that old blog about blaming apartheid – a blog from last AUGUST – almost 5½ months ago ! ! !
Talk about Rip van Winkel ! ! ! ! !
I’m afraid Dirk does live in the past.
“On the education of the people of this country the fate of the country depends.”
– Benjamin Disraeli
This should tell you where ZA is headed!
There was an Indian Businessman ( from India out) on TV the other day talking about investment from small and medium businesses in South East Asia his complaint was based on 3 things.
1 No vocational education, we are tryin to build a nation of Academics at a tim when the matric pass rate is abominable and half the potential candidates have already dropped out. We need Plumbers, Carpenters, Bricklayers, artisans of all types.
2. An investor from overseas wants to live here and bring his family, but is constrained from doing so because his kids will not get a good education, they wont get jobs because of BEE and they might get killed because the cops are not doing their jobs.
3. There are too many regulations preventing businessmen from opening or running businesses.
It requires a different outlook because if tghe Government got it right we would have the 5 million jobs that JZ promised. As it is now local investors are wanting to close down or get out sometimes both. I am not going, but my youngest son left because he was seriously disadvantaged by BEE on two occasions. My eldest son stays here because BEE cannot affect him (he is an artist) he likes the surf but since his markets is largely international it is only a matter of time before he catches a wave elsewhere.
At one of the numerous Chinese outings, President Zuma together with his lovers Andy and Blade were introduced to the Chinese mckinsey company, see: http://www.mckinsey.com/
To contribute to their expenses, President Zuma rewarded the 129 language speaking Chinese company a tender to reconstruct, not only SA education, but the whole public disaster in South Africa.
Job well done Mr. President. You deserve a second chance with goat herding.
a Quarter educated individual is a extremely Dangerous enemy and useless to the well being of a Country, hence the high levels of vicious crimes and Farm Murders and that is how Zuma want the people to be otherwise they would never vote for the ANC, and that is why zuma keeps Angie in her post. We should call her the Angel of the ANC.