The average pass rate for the matriculation exam, the annual rite of passage for all high school leavers, fell slightly to 48.9 percent from last year's 49.3 percent. The worst results were from mainly rural provinces, where issues of race and gender predominate, with bottom of the ladder Northern Province scoring an improved 35.2 percent. We are inheriting problems of the past, and the challenge is transformation, not just tinkering, and that challenge is immense.
Education accounts for the highest proportion of social services spending in the country.
However, the historical legacy of under-funding means deep structural inequalities, with the impact felt most in rural areas where crumbling school buildings and overcrowded classes are common. Although there are few resources, a lot of poorly resourced schools are doing fairly well. All' were popular slogans. Paulus said that research suggests that a key variable in the performance of a school is the quality of the principal. South Africa's new education minister Kader Asmal has recognised this, and among the government's new initiatives is to hold school management more accountable.