Debates and discussions abound regarding the dismal matric pass rate and our children continue to suffer the consequences of a system that is failing them.

Year in and year out, the intellectual and political debates continue over how the situation could improve. However, there appears to be a total absence of any discussion on the bleak future of learners who fail matric, and ultimately join the growing population of other unemployed and unemployable youths.

(As published in the Citizen and Sowetan)

While politicians ponder the best policy to adopt to ‘fix’ the education system, young people’s desperation continues to deepen with the realisation that opportunities are sorely limited if they do not pass matric. The Emndeni girl who sadly ended her life after failing matric serves to emphasise this point.

While there will always be a push to increase the number of learners who pass matric, the system ‘forces’ our young people to focus on only one aspect of education in order to succeed - formal education. It does not encourage other forms of education as a means to be equally, if not more, successful as those with a formal education. It is well known that the system as we know it is beset with challenges that relate to learner and educator apathy and ability – learners who just do not want to be formally educated and educators who do not want to teach them. This problem is not addressed and regrettably, even though an increase in the number of successful matriculants could be achieved, the quality of the results will remain an issue.

What is required is to ensure that while the system is being revised, yet again; other aspects of education such as entrepreneurship are incorporated into the new curriculum.  Statistics confirm that entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship build and sustain economies, and the associated skills possessed by those involved are critical, whether one is self or formally employed.  

By incorporating entrepreneurship into the curriculum, opportunities for our young people are greatly increased. Until such time, all the arguments and debates remain just that, leaving our young people to suffer the tragic consequences.

Linda McClure

Managing Director

Junior Achievement South Africa