SOUTH AFRICA: For the first time since the country became a democracy in 1994, there are concrete signs that South Africa’s education system is improving. This year, 58 per cent of 18-year-olds passed their leaving exam, up nine percentage points on the yearbefore.
Elated education minister, Kader Asmal, said this pass rate represented a clear break with the past. South Africans could celebrate “as we have gone well beyond the target (a 5 per cent improvement) and exceeded all our expectations”.