If you listened to the report by Trevor Manuel on Education you will understand how crucial our role is in our society. Below are some facts 

• 1.4 million students enrolled for school in January 1999
• Less than 600 000 wrote exams
• With a 68.75% pass rate
• Of the group 13% got an university exemption
• And a further 12% got sufficient pss rate's to register for a diploma
• 13% includes all schools - Private & Government
• Out of the group that started there is a 13% chance of university acceptance. If independent schools are taken out of that percentage there is a 4% chance that the average South African girl will get into university. (4%! Think about that for a moment) 
• If a student does pass Matric, but does not get into university for many reasons the prospects of her getting a job in the first year out of school are 13%. There is an 87% chance of not getting a job.
• The chances of such a student getting a job in the first 5 years out of school are one in four.
• If she does get a job , the chances of her earning more than R4 000.00 a month are two percent.
• If she did not get a job or earn less than R4 000.00 in a job, the first time she breaks through the poverty line is when she gets a pension at the age of 60.