Somlomo, siyayixhasa le ngxelo kodwa sifuna ukuveza izinto ezimbalwa eziyingxaki. [Hon Chairperson, we support this report but we would like to highlight a few problematic things.]
The DA joined the Minister and the nation in congratulating those learners who obtained their National Senior Certificates in 2011. Our comments now are reserved for the Minister and all those responsible for the urgently required reform of education going forward. Our country is simply not showing an adequate return on our substantial investment in education. Four important statistics underpin this statement: Only 40% of learners who enrolled in Grade 1 in 2000 wrote the 2011 exams. The education system failed to retain 60% of the eager millennium Grade 1s. Forty-one per cent fewer learners were registered for Grade 11 in 2010 than those writing Grade 12 in 2011, suggesting that principals are holding back learners who are likely to fail in order to artificially inflate the pass rate. [Interjections.]
HON MEMBERS: Hear, hear!