By Johnathan Paoli
Parliament erupted into a heated debate as MPs confronted one of South Africa’s most contentious education questions, whether the country should finally scrap the idea of the 30% minimum pass level in matric.
The debate, initiated by Build One SA (BOSA) leader Mmusi Maimane on Friday, saw wide support across political benches for the argument that the current low subject threshold fails learners.
However, the MPs differed sharply on causes, solutions and potential consequences for the schooling system failures.
Tabling his motion, Maimane urged the National Assembly to move the pass mark from 30% to 50% progressively, saying that the country must embrace higher expectations if it hopes to build a competitive, future-ready generation.
“Ending the 30% pass rate is not only reform, it signals the seriousness we hold about standards. When we tell learners that 30% is enough, we are ignoring 70% of their potential,” he said.
Maimane linked the low standards to ongoing failures in early childhood development, overcrowded classrooms, literacy crises and unequal infrastructure.
Raising the bar, he said, must accompany reforms that address the roots of underperformance.
Despite differing political ideologies, most parties backed the call to scrap the 30% minimum in individual subjects, with several MPs describing it as an insult to young people’s capabilities.
uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) MP Sihle Ngubane said the 30% standard embraced mediocrity. He condemned it as a barrier to black children reaching their full potential.
Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) MP Mandla Shikwambana delivered one of the most blistering attacks, saying the low bar buried the potential of black children.
“Our children are not failing; they are being failed by overcrowded classrooms, schools without laboratories, and teachers who themselves came through a broken system,” he said.
The EFF insisted the pass benchmark should rise to 50% across subjects.
Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) MP Busaphi Machi warned that communicating 30% as acceptable was preparing children for disappointment, reinforcing failure rather than ambition.
While acknowledging the need for higher standards and stronger outcomes, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube warned against potential misrepresentations of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) system.
She said that “there is no such thing as a 30% overall pass mark in the NSC”.
She said that matriculants must satisfy a three-tier set of requirements; 40% in home language, 40% in two additional subjects, and 30% in three more.
Only 189 of the 724,000 learners who wrote matric last year passed with this absolute minimum combination.
She said that the overwhelming majority exceed these thresholds, warning that simply raising the Grade 12 bar could push dropout rates higher if foundational literacy and numeracy gaps remain unaddressed.
Gwarube urged Parliament to focus on early-grade interventions, teacher development and curriculum strengthening.
“Raising the matric pass rate alone will not solve the foundational learning crisis. If a child cannot read for meaning by Grade 4, their chances of succeeding beyond diminish sharply,” she said.
She highlighted the newly established National Education and Training Council as a key body for reviewing progression requirements.
Not all MPs agreed that raising the pass percentage alone would transform outcomes.
Rise Mzansi’s Makashule Gana cautioned Parliament against becoming “obsessed with thresholds”, saying the country risked creating a system where certificates appear impressive but reflect shallow learning.
“We cannot reduce education to a number. The question must remain of what competencies do our learners actually have,” he said.
Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Nazley Sharif echoed concerns about distortion, calling for a clear, honest and evidence-based conversation rather than relying on soundbites or political performance.
INSIDE EDUCATION
