Poor Grade 10 pass rates in the South

THE Hardap Region’s 2008 Grade 10 candidates achieved a 40 per cent pass rate, says the Hardap Regional Education Deputy Director, Frans Cloete.

This is compared to a 43,7 per cent pass rate in 2007, which amounts to a drop of 3,7 per cent.
Of the 1 246 candidates who sat for the 2008 Grade 10 exams, 733 failed while 523 were promoted to Grade 11.
According to Cloete, the region moved up one position to 11th place on the country’s Grade 10 national ranking list despite a drop in the pass rate.
Cloete said regional administrators were trying to pinpoint what had caused the weaker performance last year.
‘We’re in the process to complete individual analysis on different subjects by Friday, in order to determine the contributing factors for the lower pass rate ‘ he said.
In the Karas Region the 2008 Grade 10 candidates achieved a 42,3 per cent pass rate, meaning that more than half of them did not make it to Grade 11.
This is despite the launching of the U-Oa Project at the beginning of 2008 to improve on the poor Grade 10 performances in 2007.
The Karas Regional Education Director, August Mungunda, expressed concern over the pass rate.
‘More than 50 per cent Grade 10 learners practically wasted a year at school. This asks for serious reflections and inquiry to find out where the crux of the problem lies. Is it the educational system, regional office, the schools, the parents or the learners,’ Mungunda said.
Mungunda challenged every single official, parent, teacher and pupil in the region to reflect on how they had contributed towards the unsatisfactory performance in the region.
Karas is in 10th place out of 13 regions in the 2008 Grade 10 national ranking list.