On Friday, 28 November 2025, Parliament debated Build One South Africa's draft resolution to replace the current 30% matric pass mark with a 50% minimum standard. The discussion highlighted both the urgent need for education reform in South Africa and widespread misunderstandings about the National Senior Certificate pass structure.

Mmusi Maimane, Build One South Africa's leader, set the tone early in a parliamentary debate on his party's draft resolution to replace the current 30% matric pass mark with a 50% minimum standard, giving a powerful and impassioned declaration on the urgent need for greater ambition and true global competitiveness within South Africa's education system.

"Our ambition must be better than where we are in terms of our term scores. It must be that we want to be global players who can influence and change the world," Maimane said at the debate on Friday, 28 November 2025.

He underscored that countries that have enjoyed sustained success over recent decades have done so squarely on the back of strong, world-class education systems that demand excellence from the outset. Maimane argued that South Africa could not afford to lag behind when the global stage required learners equipped not just to participate, but to lead and innovate.

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Using the example of "Sethu", a learner from a disadvantaged background, Maimane illustrated the deep-rooted systemic failures that plague South Africa's education system, turning what should be a pathway to opportunity into a cycle of limitation.

He painted a vivid picture of Sethu's journey, starting from...