Is Grade 9 the New Matric in South Africa?

In the year your child turns 5/6 he or she starts the routine of attending school, but at what age can a child legally be off classes and books?

Plans to formalise Grade 9 as second exit point of schooling.

Minister of Basic Education in South Africa  Angie Motshega revealed this at South African Democratic Teachers' Union (SADTU's) elective conference underway at Nasrec, Johannesburg.

The Department of Basic Education is working on formalising Grade 9 as one of the exit points of schooling. That means learners will be able to finish school at Grade 9 and attain a General Education Certificate.

“Dealing decisively with the quality and efficiency through the implementation of standardised assessments to reduce failure, repetition, and drop-out rates, we are also working on the introduction of multiple qualifications such as the General Education Certificate before the Grade 12 exit qualification. The NDP aims for a ‘world-class assessment system’ involving reliable measures of learning for every primary school.” she said.

According to the South African schools Act, the first exitpoint in the South African schooling system is the end of Grade 9 year, which is the General education and training certificate (GETC) phase where they are awarded the certificate.

The South African school Act defines a school as a public school or an independent school which enrols pupils in one or mpre grades between Grade 0 and Grade 12.

The pupil will have completed GET, which covers Grade R to 9 but has no true qualification.

The next step after GET is Further education and training (FET) in either a school, covering Grade 10 to Grade 12 or equivalent level in FET colleges. Pupils can transfer to FET colleges after grade 9.

The aim for this they say is to decrease dropouts. But don't we think it will be a gateway for everyone to leave school at grade 9 saying they will further them somewhere. We all know that no one likes schooling. 

Many people have already left school for a number of socioeconomic and educational reasons. Now they will be leaving being given valid reason to leave.

I believe that children should only leave school after Grade 12 as the current status of the job market is going to make it difficult for unskilled people to be employed. Already we have people who have qualifications from universities and colleges that are irrelevant. Will this not add to the numbers.

Already the educational system of South Africa is bad but we need real implementations to solve the challenges.