Parliament keeps 'Bantu Education' 30% school pass mark

Parliament has voted to retain South Africa’s 30% school pass threshold, closing the door on a proposal to abolish it after a heated debate in the National Assembly.

Mmusi Maimane confirmed the outcome on Tuesday evening.

“We lost the vote to end 30% as a pass mark at any level in our public education system.”

He criticised the parties that opposed the change. “The following parties voted to keep Bantu education standards - ANC, DA, VF, PA and Al Jamah. They hugged incompetence and embraced mediocrity. Now SA knows.”

Maimane had introduced the debate recently, arguing that the 30% threshold entrenches low expectations and harms learners’ long-term prospects. BOSA also handed a petition with more than 20,000 signatures to Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube on the day of the debate.

He called for a more ambitious overhaul of the system. “We demand transparency and real solutions, not ANC platitudes,” he said, proposing measures such as an independent education ombudsman, better teacher salaries, a school voucher programme and a national audit of teacher skills.

Committee chair Tebogo Letsie urged a broader view, saying improving education was a collective responsibility. He challenged claims that learners pass matric with 30%.

“Let it be stated unambiguously that 30% is not the pass mark of our curriculum,” he said, noting that subject thresholds and promotional criteria exceed the figure. He added: “An aggregate of 30% falls far short of these standards.”

He outlined the requirements for a bachelor pass. “For a bachelor pass, a candidate must attain at least 40%… Also, the candidate must attain 50% on other subjects and at least 30% of the other subject.”

MK’s Sihle Ngubane disputed this framing, arguing that some subjects do allow a 30% or 40% pass. He warned that low thresholds undermine competitiveness, especially in maths and science.

Gwarube maintained the NSC is internationally aligned and operates as a multi-subject system. Learners must obtain 40% in a home language, 40% in two more subjects and 30% in three others. She stressed that very few learners pass with the minimum combination. “Out of the 724 000 learners who wrote the NSC last year, only 189 passed with this minimum subject combination.”

She said claims that matriculants pass with 30% were “a distortion” of how the system works.

EFF MP Mandla Shikwambana said the threshold was too low for a knowledge-based economy, a view supported by IFP MP Busaphi Machi, who argued that a 30% performer is not ready for higher education or the workforce. “We can’t continue pretending otherwise,” she said.

Despite contrasting positions, MPs ultimately voted to keep the current system in place — a decision that ensures the 30% threshold remains part of South Africa’s education framework.

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