What happens when young people don’t pass matric?
In 2016 the Department of Basic Education launched the Second Chance Matric Programme, designed to give young people a second chance at obtaining their matric qualification. However, many young people are unaware of this opportunity. There is little information in the public domain as the Department doesn’t report on this cohort.
Before the pandemic, over 300 000 young people would leave school before Grade 10 and Grade 12 without a school-leaving certificate. A matric certificate is one of the minimum certificates that allows young people to progress into further education and employment. With so many young people leaving school without a matric qualification, the Second Chance Matric Programme is the only opportunity they have to become economically active.
Given the lack of information on the programme, Youth Capital commissioned RESEP to critically review it using publically available data.
Kristal Duncan-Williams chats to Khaya Sithole on Power FM about the findings from Youth Capital’s latest research brief Matrics ‘on the Fringe’.