South Africa debates 30% pass mark as 2025 matric results are released

While Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube commended parents and teachers for their dedication in supporting Grade 12 learners throughout the year, Build One South Africa (BOSA) leader Mmusi Maimane has renewed calls for urgent systemic reform.

The 2025 National Senior Certificate (NSC) results have been released as the country finds itself at the centre of a heated debate over the state of education.

This comes amid Maimane’s warning that low pass marks mislead the public and mask deeper failures. He slammed the education system’s reliance on the 30% pass mark, saying that the figures used to celebrate student performance were misleading. 

“Today, South Africans are being deceived. A 30% mark is not a pass and should never be used for reporting system performance,” he said, adding that the celebrated pass rate is merely “a mask of mediocrity” based on the lowest common denominator.

He added that the country needs a minister of education who is not a caretaker managing failure through the bandaid of manipulated statistics.

“We need a real reformer leading the department of basic education. We can’t have equal education while maintaining Bantu Education by another name,” he said.

Maimane called for urgent reforms in South Africa’s education system, urging authorities to pay teachers better, raise the matric pass mark to 50%, remove underperforming teachers, and reduce union interference in classrooms.

He also proposed scrapping Life Orientation, making Computer Science a compulsory subject, and introducing a voucher system to give parents real choice in education.

He challenged Gwarube to “end the lie, tell South Africans the truth, and take decisive, system-wide action.”

Speaking Monday, January 12, at the MTV Innovation Centre, Gwarube addressed a ministerial breakfast with the top achievers of the Class of 2025. She is scheduled to announce the matric results later Monday evening.

“To the parents and guardians in the room: today also belongs to you, as much as it belongs to your children. Behind every high-achieving learner is a home that made sacrifices,” Gwarube said, highlighting the dedication and sacrifices parents made to ensure their children could focus on learning.

“A home that chose discipline over comfort, encouragement over despair. You carried emotional, financial, and psychological weight so that your children could succeed. You sat through meetings, worried through exam seasons, stretched limited resources, but you never stopped believing, even when the path was unclear.”

She also praised teachers for their unwavering commitment. “Teachers are the quiet architects of excellence. You see potential before it becomes visible. You insist on high standards when learners would rather lower them. You correct, guide, encourage, and sometimes simply refuse to give up on a child who may already have given up on themselves.”

She added, “Without excellent teachers, we cannot have excellent learners. Thank you for shaping minds, building confidence, and holding the line for quality education.”

Addressing the top achievers, Gwarube celebrated their accomplishments. “You have not only passed; you have excelled. In doing so, you have expanded what is possible for yourselves, your families, and your communities. Excellence is not reserved for the privileged few; it is earned through discipline, resilience, and focus.”

She reminded learners that this milestone is only the beginning. “There will be other hills, other boulders, other moments when progress feels slow or setbacks feel heavy. Do not be discouraged when the climb becomes steep again. Carry forward not just your results, but the habits that produced them: curiosity, effort, humility, and grit. South Africa needs not only your intelligence, but your character.”

Gwarube also acknowledged the obstacles learners overcame to reach this point. “You faced circumstances beyond your control, moments when the climb felt unfair, when progress slipped away just as it seemed within reach. And yet, you persevered.”

The 2025 NSC results will be published in accredited newspapers, with only candidates’ examination numbers listed to protect privacy.

The Star

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