'81% of grade 4s can’t read': Maimane demands urgent action as Gwarube defends system
Build One South Africa (BOSA) leader Mmusi Maimane and Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube have clashed over the current state of South Africa’s education system.
Their heated exchange on X (formerly Twitter) exposed sharply contrasting views on the country’s education priorities and how progress should be measured.
Maimane accused the Minister of misleading the public, arguing that she is using the government’s Early Childhood Development (ECD) agenda to avoid being held accountable for failures in the broader school system.
“The minister of basic education @Siviwe_G is misleading South Africa. Pass marks matter and class averages matter,” Maimane wrote. “In an education system, you cannot choose to focus on one cohort. This is just a way to dodge accountability.”
He specifically criticised the department’s move away from introducing robotics and computer science in schools, calling it a “backwards move” in the midst of a global Artificial Intelligence race.
“Right now the department has said they are going all in on ECD. They are abandoning the promise to introduce robotics and computer science across schools in South Africa.”
Maimane insisted that meaningful assessment of schools must be based on a standard 50% pass mark, arguing that this would help identify which schools need urgent support.
“Let’s stop pretending like the education system is operating normally. There is a crisis that needs leadership that recognises that crisis and acts accordingly,” he said.
Gwarube, responding directly, defended her focus on foundational learning, saying it is misguided to treat matric results as the only metric of success.
“The obsession I am referring to is the focus on matric results as the only marker of success in a whole system,” she said.
“If you cannot read, write and calculate confidently and with meaning by the time you turn 10, fiddling with pass marks in high school doesn’t deal with the root cause.”
Gwarube emphasised the importance of building a strong foundation for children from the earliest stages of development.
“Any country that performs well in its education system looks at the system in its entirety (ages 0 – 18 in our case) and ensures that the system is strong from the very foundations until Further Education and Training and beyond,” she said.
Gwarube further pointed to the newly appointed National Education and Training Council, noting that one of its key priorities is reviewing progression requirements and aligning them with international benchmarks.
She rejected Maimane’s claim that she is trying to paint a rosy picture, saying, “By all means; hold me to account but don’t accuse me of trying to mislead South Africans about the state of their education system. They don’t need me to paint a rosy picture for them. They know its challenges and I am working hard to fix them. Led by evidence.”
Maimane remained unconvinced, calling the current response a “plaster on a burst pipe.”
He pointed to damning statistics: “36%. That’s the median mark in maths from last year. That’s a crisis that requires urgent intervention. 81% of grade 4 learners are failing to read. That’s a crisis that requires urgent attention and intervention.”
hope.ntanzi@iol.co.za
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