Several commentators have expressed concerns regarding the minimum passing grade requirements established for the National Senior Certificate (NSC) qualification in the context of broader apprehensions about the quality of the educational system, as noted by Wedekind (2013). The pass requirements for basic education (NSC) pertain to the predetermined performance standards in percentages that learners are expected to attain for the purpose of advancing to higher education in South Africa. These pass requirements are governed by the South African Department of Basic Education in accordance with the Council for Quality Assurance, Umalusi. They have faced criticism from various stakeholders and education experts. It is argued that, from the era of Bantu education (apartheid education) in 1954 to the introduction of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) in 2012, pass requirement standards have progressively declined to an alarming degree. This decline has reached a point where, through education policies, the NCS officially recognizes a pass as low as 30% for certain subjects. This paper aims to conduct a comparative analysis of pass requirement standards in South Africa in relation to other countries. Furthermore, it will briefly explore the underlying reasons behind the consistent lowering of pass requirements in South Africa’s basic education system.
Pass mark requirements serve as a motivating factor for students to maintain their academic performance at an acceptable level. It is essential that these pass requirements are both realistic and challenging, encouraging learners to aspire to higher levels of achievement. The Council for Quality Assurance, Umalusi, as the authority responsible for maintaining educational standards in the schooling system (Wedekind, 2013), should establish these standards in alignment with the types of learners they aim to produce. However, these standards should also correspond to the expected performance level of learners entering higher education through South Africa’s basic education system. Pass requirements should serve as benchmarks for evaluating performance. Ideally, pass requirements should be set at a minimum of 50% for all subjects to motivate learners to strive for success and attain a reasonable and realistic target.
The concern arises that pass requirement standards in South Africa are excessively low, raising questions about their appropriateness. In contrast, other countries such as Australia, Canada, and many European nations have set the pass mark requirement at 50% for their basic education. Some countries, like the USA, China, the Netherlands, and Morocco, have a higher pass threshold of 60%. There are variations in both lower and higher pass rates. For instance, in the USA, certain states or schools set the failure threshold at anything below 65%, while in the Philippines, failure can be below 72% or even 75% at certain institutions (Business Tech, 2018). These statistics highlight the significant divergence in South Africa’s pass requirements. Business Tech (2018) utilizes the 2017 matriculation results to underscore the shortcomings of South Africa’s curriculum. With a current pass threshold of 30%, the 2017 matriculation class achieved a pass rate of 75.1%. However, if the pass threshold were raised to 40%, this rate would decrease to approximately 54%. If South Africa required a 50% pass threshold, only about 33% of matriculation learners would have succeeded, and if it adopted the 60% threshold seen in some other countries, merely 16% of matriculants would have met the criteria. Raising the pass threshold to 70% (as observed in the Philippines) would result in only 7% of South African matriculants passing.
Setting a pass requirement of 50% is logical, as it represents half of the total marks available and aligns with academic standards. However, South Africa has been moving in the opposite direction since 1994, progressively reducing pass requirements to the point where a mere 30% is considered a passing grade for certain subjects within the NCS curriculum. This implies that learners do not need to master 70% of a particular subject; 30% suffices for a pass. Normalizing such mediocrity implies that knowing less in a subject is acceptable and inadvertently rewards minimal effort. This can be disheartening for learners striving for 50% or higher scores, as witnessing learners pass with a 30% grade can be demotivating and render their hard-earned 50% pass seemingly insignificant. Encouraging and praising such mediocrity further discourages those striving for higher standards.
The consistent lowering of pass requirements in South Africa’s basic education system can be attributed to the perceived difficulty of the curriculum. The curriculum’s difficulty does not stem from its excellence or its capacity to secure a brighter future; rather, it is challenging because it fails to address the individual educational needs of each learner. Students often feel disengaged from the curriculum because it does not align with their unique life aspirations. Coping with the curriculum is challenging for learners because it imposes subjects that are irrelevant to their needs. In essence, the curriculum is problematic for learners because it provides answers to questions they never asked. Consequently, in order to ensure students, pass and progress, the Department of Basic Education has had to lower pass requirements. This has led to a consistent lowering of these requirements over the years, culminating in the 30% threshold.
The ongoing reduction of pass requirements by the Department of Basic Education in collaboration with Umalusi signifies that South Africa’s education curriculum (NSC) is not tailored to the needs of the learners. If it were, there would be no need to lower pass requirement standards to as low as 30%. These standards are lowered due to the curriculum’s lack of relevance in education. If the curriculum is relevant and learners were engaged in subjects that matched their life aspirations, achieving a 50% pass requirement for all subjects would not be problematic. This is why the PECS policy explicitly states that pass requirements for all subjects should be set at a minimum of 50% for learners to progress or gain admission to higher education.
Arguments like these prompted the development of the Personalized Education Curriculum System (PECS). Rooted in a humanistic approach and drawing from quality curriculum theory and competency-oriented education, PECS focuses on practical assessments to gauge students’ relevant skills, aptitudes, and values essential for navigating modern society effectively. PECS emerged as a response to dissatisfaction with the modernist curriculum system in South Africa, akin to the birth of postmodernism. It seeks to rescue learners from a curriculum that lacks progressive elements and fails to provide differentiated learning suitable for all students. Similar to the historical advent of progressivism, PECS acts as a disruptive and qualitative curriculum system aimed at resolving the confusion stemming from curriculum inconsistencies. PECS intends to restore the worth and respect of the education system by rendering it responsive to societal needs through a curriculum rooted in liberal education principles. A unique aspect of PECS is its emphasis on affording learners’ insights into the working world during their schooling years. This distinct feature underscores the relevance and inspiration that PECS offers to the educational community of South Africa and the broader African context. This perspective envisions an improved education system achieved through the implementation of such an approach.
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Cite this publication: XABA, S.S. 2023. NSC pass mark requirements amongst the lowest in the world. https://simnandisolutions.co.za/post/
Bibliography
Wedekind, V. 2013. NSC Pass Requirements A discussion document for Umalusi on the NSC Pass mark. https://www.umalusi.org.za/docs/research/2013/nsc_pass.pdf.Date of Access: 27 September 2023.
BusinessTech. 2018. School pass marks in South Africa vs the rest of the world. https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/231111/school-pass-marks-in-south-africa-vs-the-rest-of-the-world/.Date of Access: 28 September 2023.