UPDATE: Public shocked by lowered maths pass rate

The National Department of Basic Education yesterday announced that it would lower the mathematics pass mark for grade 7 to 9.
The public was shocked by the 20 per cent minimum requirement and took to social media to voice their concerns.

#DBENews Statement on the special condonation dispensation for Senior Phase learners in Mathematics: https://t.co/s2elh2B3JM @ElijahMhlanga

— Dep. Basic Education (@DBE_SA) December 8, 2016

This is what they had to say:

Monique van Blerk – What is the point of teaching then… stop wasting the teachers (our) time! How do you want to become a doctor/ lawyer/vet… whatever… SA is already behind in academics… where must we end?

Donne Oosthuizen – This is just disgusting.

Elsje Botha – SA qualifications will mean nothing soon. Our kids will have to study overseas for degrees to carry any weight.

Marion Wells – The people making up these rules are dumber than the people only getting 20 per cent.

Jackie Morgan Dickson – What’s going to happen is that they will want to go to university… for free… without maths, they have no hope. They should rather drop the subject altogether, or better still, make sure you have lots of great maths teachers right from the start. If these kids haven’t learnt the basics they’re unlikely to pick it up later.

Tsholo Jantjies – Shocking indeed.

Sandra Collins – I was useless at maths, but even I could get 20 per cent.
On Twitter, the news met with equal disbelief.

TWEET:

The saddest thing about the 20% pass mark for maths is that most pupils who get that, still won't understand if they've passed or not.

— Chris Forrest (@ChrisForrestSA) December 9, 2016

20% pass mark is just to get you through taxi maths. 😊

— Cinderella (@mizzzidc) December 8, 2016

The Democratic Alliance’s Shadow Minister of Basic Education, Gavin Davis, said that it is common knowledge that far too few children emerge from school numerate enough to compete in a global knowledge economy. “Instead of giving learners a free pass, we should be equipping learners to succeed in mathematics,” he said.

The party called on the Minster for Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, to explain her decision to reduce the maths pass mark.

The department said in a media release that the circular, wherein the reduced pass mark was announced, should only be considered as an interim measure for this year and is only applicable for Grade 7, 8 and 9. “It should be noted that the decision to apply a condonation dispensation in view of the stringent pass requirements, was an administrative decision that had to be made within the limited time available,” it said.

Read: Dumbing down the nation