The matric pass rate is less than 45 percent when considering how few of the pupils who enrolled in Grade One in 2003 wrote matric last year, Afriforum said on Monday.

Of the 1,187,961 children in Grade One in 2003, only 689,625 (58 percent) made it to matric last year, the civil rights group’s deputy CEO Alana Bailey said, citing figures from the basic education department and Umalusi.

The 2014 matrics achieved a 75.8 percent pass rate, meaning the actual pass rate of the 2003 Grade One group was less than 45 percent, said Bailey.

“The department should urgently assume responsibility for this figure and tackle the causes behind this drop-out rate head-on.”

The causes for the drop-out rate included a lack of mother-language education, textbook delivery problems, the paralysing actions by some education unions, inadequate teacher training, dysfunctional schools, and poor discipline, she said. SAPA