Educators and learners’ perceptions of matric performance in selected schools in the Butterworth district
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Date
2016
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University of Fort Hare
Abstract
The problem of school under-performance as defined by the pass rate level of learners in the matric examination has been a point of educational debate in the Eastern Cape for a number of years, especially after the attainment of democracy in the Republic of South Africa. Many strategies have been used in the Eastern Cape to address this problem, strategies like the matric intervention strategy, without success. The aim of this study was to investigate educators and learners’ perception of matric performance in schools in the Butterworth district. The study followed a mixed research method which is an approach to an inquiry which involves both qualitative and quantitative data, integrating the two forms of data and using distinct designs that may involve philosophical and theoretical frameworks. Three schools participated and data was collected through semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis. Twenty four participants participated in this study.
The study revealed that all the respondents from the three participating schools seemed to have a common understanding of what an impact under-performance has in the district, even though they put it in different statements. The findings revealed that rural schools are under-resourced, there is lack of parental support, departmental visits and support are minimal, and curriculum changes are a major challenge, as a result of which rural schools lack technological developments, while scholar transport is also a problem.
The study recommended that the Department of Education officials need to make regular visits to schools for the betterment of teaching and learning, regular improvements of school resources are needed, parents must involve themselves in school developments and rural educators must be motivated by remunerating them in a special way.