The Road to Matric: A Highway to Nowhere (With Excellent Signage)
The Road to Matric: A Highway to Nowhere (With Excellent Signage) Brace yourselves! Every year, right on schedule, independent schools roll out their favourite party trick: “100% Matric Pass Rate.” It’s splashed across websites, printed on banners, whispered reverently at open days. Parents beam. Boards applaud. Marketing teams uncork something bubbly... And education quietly dies in the corner. Because somewhere along the way, we decided that twelve years of schooling could be judged by a single number, produced in one exam, by a teenager running on caffeine, cortisol and fear. Welcome to The Road to Matric - a long, straight highway where curiosity is roadkill and childhood is an optional extra. The Matric Myth (Now with Extra Panic) Matric has become the holy grail of South African schooling. Not learning. Not growth. Not character. Matric. From the moment a child enters school, everything points in one direction: Assess. Measure. Rank. Repeat. Primary school children are trai...