South Africa will receive new school certificate in 2025

The Department of Basic Education is moving forward with plans to implement a new school certificate for grade 9 students, but the complete rollout will now take place a year later, in 2025.

Basic education minister Angie Motshekga said at a media conference this weekend that the piloting of the General Education Certificate is advancing, after the credential was launched in 270 schools across all nine provinces in 2022.

By 2023, the pilot will have expanded to 1,000 schools. While it was originally planned to go out to all South African schools in 2024, the trial will instead be extended again that year, with the entire implementation now scheduled for 2025.

The extended pilot period, according to the minister, will provide the department with “further learnings” on how to improve the quality of the assessment tools used for the certificate, as well as how to better incorporate these tools into school-based assessments and generate a holistic GEC report card for learners.

“The purpose of the GEC is to provide learners with expanded opportunities to display their capabilities on inquiry-based learning, solving real-world problems and designing practical solutions which will better prepare them for further education and training and the world of work,” Motshekga said.

“The assessment instruments have been designed to integrate the learning of 21st-century skills within the scope of expected curriculum competencies.”

In 2023, in addition to expanding the pilot to more schools, the number of participating schools will also include schools of skill and all 75 education districts, with further expansion anticipated for 2024. All schools are intended to participate in the GEC at the grade 9 level by 2025.

The certificate has been criticised, with critics blaming the department of establishing an exit point for grade 9 learners, deterring them from continuing on to matric.

The department has made it clear that this is not a way out of the education system. Instead, the certificate will help learners make smarter decisions, particularly those who may alter their attention to more technical topics and trades rather than a single focus on a college or university education.

According to the department, hundreds of students leave the school system each year without a certificate, making it difficult for them to find work. Once these students obtain a certificate, they can progress to another type of instruction.

“It allows for learners, after ten years of schooling (Grade 9), to be recognised for their levels of curriculum attainment, general capabilities and talents,” it said.

According to recent Stats SA statistics, unemployment is increasing across all levels of education in South Africa. Those with a tertiary qualification, on the other hand, have the highest chance of finding work.

According to the statistics, persons with any qualification less than a matric have the worst unemployment rate and the lowest absorption rate in the country, with both measures worsening over the previous five years.

Those with a higher degree, on the other hand, have the lowest unemployment rate and the best likelihood of being incorporated into the labour force.