BUILD One South Africa (Bosa's) motion to scrap the 30% pass mark for matric has fallen flat.
Parliament voted against it on Tuesday night, 2 December.
Bosa leader Mmusi Maimane had brought the motion, and it was debated on Friday last week.
"The results are as follows: the Is 87, the NOs 190, the motion is therefore not agreed to," announced House chairman Werner Horn.
Among the parties that voted against the motion were the ANC (101), DA (75), and Patriotic Alliance (8).
MK party (43), EFF (28), and IFP (10) supported Bosa's two MPs, but they fell short of having the motion passed.
Bosa had called for a division to force a physical, counted vote when they were not convinced about the outcome of a voice vote, which seemed to be against the motion.
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Maimane said earlier that the vote is a test of who truly cares about the future of the country's children, and who wants young people to continue passing at 30%.
After voting, he expressed his disappointment that they lost the vote to set 30% as a pass mark at any level in our public education system.
"The following parties voted to keep Bantu education standards - ANC, DA, VF, PA and Al Jamah. They hugged incompetence and embraced mediocrity. Now SA knows."
He said the government defended a policy that says young people can be proficient in a subject at 30%.
He said the government is worried about increasing the pass rate because it would impact the total number of pupils passing matric.
"The protection of the 30% is to beef up this fictitious matric number. It also tells a story that the majority of our learners aren't able to pass with a matric that allows them to go and compete and enter university," said Maimane.
