The mystery of the Lost Matric Colony
Does anybody have the number of Sherlock Holmes?
Of course he is a fictional character, and so it seems are many of our politicians, but we need a top sleuth to solve a mystery.
AfriForum has stated that, according to a report from the Department of Basic Education, 1 168 581 learners enrolled in Grade One in 2002. Of these, roughly 562 000 learners wrote matric examinations in 2013.
By all accounts, some half a million learners got lost along the way to matric!
We can talk all day over a cup of coffee about the matric results and their validity or even authenticity, but, like wagging your finger at an e-toll gantry, this will be a futile exercise.
One also has to wonder how many learners who didn’t do so well are really encouraged by President Zuma’s statement that all is not lost and there a range of learning options available to meet the demands of those who could not get into university.
Let us rather contemplate why so many learners did not finish their school year.
Did they become singers (these days it seems anybody can make an album), or are they on the street selling fake DVDs or dodgy looking fruit?
Even worse, how many of them are now involved in crime, drugs, trying to raise a family at home, or simply unemployed?
Let us not even contemplate how many of them are incarcerated.
Ever heard of the Lost Colony?
We are talking about the Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island, in Dare County, present-day North Carolina, in thr United States.
In 1587, a colony of 114 men, women and children became one of the earliest attempts to colonise the New World – America.
Travelling from Britain to Roanoke Island, on North Carolina’s coast, they were the first true attempt at colonisation of the New World.
The colony, led by John White, settled on Roanoke Island. But times were tough and supplies became scarce.
White returned to England for supplies, but was able to return to Roanoke Island only three years later, due to the war against the Spaniards.
When he arrived back in the Americas in 1590, he could not find a single trace of the colony. No people, living or dead, could be found anywhere.
All personal belongings were left in place, as if the people had simply disappeared into thin air.
His only clue was a carving on a tree – “CRO” was all he could decipher.
Thinking that the three letters may have been a unsuccessful attempt to spell out the word CROATOAN, a nearby island, White sailed to Croatoan to search for his family and fellow Englishmen.
No trace of the colonists has ever been found. A mystery indeed worthy of Holmes’s talents.
So, in the wake of AfriForum’s concerns, I am tempted to dub our potential missing matriculants as the Lost Matric Colony.
Where are they? We are talking about 500 000 people not writing matric!
I am beginning to feel like White – wondering if we should be looking up in the palm trees or under rocks, because we have en entire colony of learners missing.
Somewhere, questions have to be asked, because it seems the education system is failing.
Are there any traces of the learners, and did they also carve weird things in a tree, such as “CRO”?
In this country a lot of things go missing – money, school books, respect, dignity and common sense. Vehicles, TV sets, e-toll statements and pets regularly vanish into thin air.
We have become used to South Africa being a modern day Bermuda Triangle, where the absurd is the norm, and where the unexplainable gets shrugged off – but, seriously, where are the children?
Or shall we ask Stephen Hawking, who turned 72 recently, if they have been sucked into a black hole?
If, since 1994, it has become a regular occurrence for learners to fall off the radar, then, to be quite frank Dr Watson, it is elementary to conclude our Lost Matric Colony must have swelled considerably in size, yet remains invisible and has raised few alarm bells.
