Suriamurthee Maistry|Published
THE year-end examinations can feel particularly daunting for many pupils as study timetables intensify, extra lessons multiply, family conversations increasingly become about symbols, and schools focus on targets. For some matric pupils, anticipating their post-school pursuits can be exciting if they already have firm plans.
It is, however, difficult to describe a typical pupil in South Africa, given the serious issue of economic inequality and poverty that plagues the nation.
The quintile poverty ranking of the schooling system subjects children from poor and affluent families to very different learning experiences. For the majority of pupils who complete high school, matric results and financial constraints mean that tertiary study is not an option.
Imagine a pupil for whom the exam is a formality and is on course for a bursary, or whose family has invested in an education policy for tertiary studies. Compare this to another pupil exposed to years of deprivation, overcrowded classrooms, no library, hunger, and absent and under-qualified teachers.
The South African centralised matric examination system prescribes that both children sit for the same paper, on the same day, but with radically different starting points. Given this scenario, it is clear that pupils' well-being is a function of who they are and where they started. For a pupil who has never been academically exceptional, a pupil who studies diligently but achieves only 50%, or a pupil with a learning barrier, the current assessment culture looks less humane.
In some countries, where quality assurance and accountability mechanisms are robust, there is a historically established public confidence and integrity in internally administered assessments. Such assessment systems employ a diverse range of assessment practices that allow pupils with different learning styles to demonstrate what they know. In such systems, emphasis is on the pupil’s capability and potential rather than on the quantum or mark.
Such systems also have highly functional schools and competent teachers, which unfortunately is not the case with South Africa’s ailing schooling system. In a highly unequal schooling system like ours, a standardised national examination at least attempts to establish a shared framework of expectations which provides some protection against completely subjective or inconsistent judgements between schools. The educational legitimacy of examinations does not, however, justify the negative social practices that have grown around them over the years.
There is general acknowledgement and acceptance that formal assessment provides several important functions in South African schooling. It creates common standards against which achievement can be judged across schools and provides tertiary institutions, employers and the state with recognised evidence of educational attainment. While there is a need to preserve standards, there is also the need to be sceptical of the narrow assumption that examination performance is a complete measure either of competence or of human potential. The problem is not that examinations matter. The problem arises when they are made to mean everything.
The assertion of “Just do your best” has different meanings. It assumes that effort and ability translate roughly equally into results for everyone if a child just tries hard enough. It is quite unfortunate that when society celebrates matric achievement, there is relative silence about whose forms of competence are being recognised, whose circumstances are being discounted, and what happens psychologically to the child who already knows that they are unlikely to be among the distinctions.
UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, notes that some stress is not inherently harmful and that moderate stress can motivate a pupil preparing for an examination. Excessive or uncontrollable stress, on the other hand, can affect mood, physical health, mental well-being and relationships. It is important to recognise that examination stress is socially produced.
The South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) identifies pressure from parents, teachers, schools and peers as factors that can intensify matric exam stress. Having this organisation’s contact details at hand is crucial as they provide free crisis support, public education, and patient advocacy services. Their 24-hour emergency SMS number is 31393, and the WhatsApp number for school pupil support is 087 163 2030.
What is ironic in the SA context is that a culture intended to maximise academic performance may sometimes create psychological conditions that make effective learning more difficult and put children at risk. As explained earlier, not every pupil approaches the examination from the same starting point. One child may be fortunate to have a quiet bedroom, Wi-Fi, extra tutoring, transport, electricity, food security, and educated adults available for help.
The experience of the majority is that of navigating overcrowded living spaces, household responsibilities, transport difficulties, financial insecurity, inadequate educational resources, or an unsafe social environment. While the national examination may be standardised, the conditions under which pupils prepare for it are not. As a society, we need to be wary of careless public and media conversations about resilience that simply expect children to endure circumstances we have collectively failed to address.
We need to change our mindsets. Parents must create conditions in which their children can perform without believing that parental love or respect depends on the results their children achieve. For schools, academic achievement is important, but pupil well-being during the process is also a paramount educational responsibility. Pupils need to be reminded that results provide information about performance on particular assessments and are not a complete measure of ability, worth, or future potential. The media can celebrate achievement in ways that avoid narratives implying that only exceptional marks constitute success.
South African schools do not need to choose between academic rigour and pupil well-being. Examinations can remain demanding without becoming psychologically overwhelming. There is a need to shift from seeing matric as a final judgement on a young person to seeing it as one significant moment within a much longer educational and human journey.
Professor Suriamurthee Maistry is a decolonial and critical curriculum Scholar in the School of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or post.co.za
*** The 2026 National Senior Certificate Exam started on October 13 with Computer Applications Tech paper 1 practical; and language subjects, paper 1.