At her recent speech announcing the newly released matric results for 2024, DA Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube reflected on the past 30 years of democratic education.

The speech praised the ANC government and their appointments for their "excellence". Equity and inclusivity was a repeated refrain, as was the concept of social justice. Characterising her priorities and principles, Gwarube said, "a healthy schooling system is not measured solely by matric results but by a comprehensive set of indicators that reflect its quality and its equity."

While Gwarube briefly noted the dismal performance of South Africa's school system, the Minister celebrated the achievements of the ANC without any criticism whatsoever, and championed the efforts of her predecessors in the post.

The majority of her speech was dedicated to celebrating the headline statistics for bachelor passes, neglecting to note the dramatic reduction of standards for this achievement, which has made the majority of matric certificates worthless in the job market and university application process.

While celebrating record matric pass rates, Gwarube failed to note the dropout rates, which are not reflected in these statistics. According to national statistics produced in questions to the previous minister in the National Council of Provinces last year, only 60.5% of learners have made it through matric, with an overall dropout rate of 39.5%.

Of the remaining 60.5%, 89.37% achieved Bachelor Pass, which requires 50% in four subjects, including Home Language, and 30% in two other subjects. 7.56% achieved a Diploma Pass (40% in five subjects, including Home Language, and 30% in two other subjects) and 1.53% achieved a Higher Certificate Pass (40% in three subjects, including Home Language, and 30% in four other subjects).

This is a sharp departure from the DA's prior official position on our education performance, which has not changed in any statistically significant way over the past year. In January last year, the DA admonished the South African education department for producing among the worst results in the world:

"81% of grade 4s can’t read for meaning in any language, and 56% of grade 6 learners cannot read at a grade 4 level. 74.2% of schools don’t have libraries. And only 56.9% have libraries that actually contain books. Grade 4 and 8 learners struggle with basic maths and science. [...]The PIRLS revealed that 81% of grade 4 and 56% of grade 6 learners cannot read for meaning in any language. The 2019 TIMMS revealed that only 41% of grade 9 maths learners and 36% of science learners had acquired the basic subject knowledge and skills, while only 37% of grade 5 mathematics learners and 28% of science learners had acquired the basic subject knowledge and skills for their grade. 37.2% of grade 10 learners and 25.9% of grade 8s in the Free State failed their exams last year. The 2017 OECD Benchmarking report placed South Africa 75th out of 76 countries in terms of quality of education."

Commentators on social media have expressed disappointment in the lack of criticism coming from the DA. Mmusi Maimane, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, was much more critical than his DA counterparts in the national coalition, saying:

"Calculating a national pass rate based on 3 subjects passed at 30% and 3 subjects passed at 40% is the biggest game of self delusion from this government. I am truly shocked that the Democratic Alliance is going along with this lie. An average of 35% is not a pass. Scrap this."