As matriculants breathe a sigh of relief, the Department of Basic Education begins the task of working to assess and improve basic education across all provinces. Last night, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced the release of the results and commented on the results across the country.
This year’s national pass rate is 76.2%, which is up from 74% in 2015. This year’s results include more then 162 000 matriculants who are eligible for admission to university for bachelor’s degrees.

The pass rate incorporating progressed learners is 72.5%, which is an improvement on last year’s 70%. Progressed learners are learners who were promoted into matric after repeatedly failing grade 11.
The results per province were: Mpumalanga (77.1%), the Northern Cape (78.7%), the North West (82.5%), Gauteng (85.1%), the Western Cape (87.7%) and the Free State (88.2%).

The Eastern Cape, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal obtained 59.3%, 62.5% and 66.4% respectively.
Speaking to VOC’s Breakfast Beat, Ministry for Education in Western Cape, MEC Debbie Schafer explained that as whole, results in the Western Cape have not dropped in percentage.

“We dropped in our position, from one to two, but our overall our percentage has in fact gone up by 1.3 per cent. We got 84.7 last year and this year we got 86 per cent,” Schafer affirmed.

Given the fact that Western Cape learners have secured the top three spots in the country and the top two in mathematics, she applauded all learners, teachers and schools for their efforts.

In light of students who fared poorly, Schafer asserts that matriculants have the option of applying to rewrite the matric exam.

“There are ways to, if they so wish, to rewrite next year. Otherwise they should find a form of study or employment that will assist them later on in life…it’s not the end of the world.”

In keeping with custom, Schafer confirmed that the top provincial performers will be celebrated at the residence of the Premier Helen Zille next Thursday.

“A message to the class of 2017: you have a few very hard acts to fellow, put your nose to the grindstone and work very hard and focus – it is one year in your life that you can really make a difference,” Schafer continued.

The DA congratulated the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) on the 43 725 candidates who passed matric in 2016.

“We also congratulate the WCED on the performance in the Metro East Region, where schools in communities like Khayelitsha have shown consistent improvement. No fee schools in the province have also seen an increase in grades.

“Physical Science candidates achieved a 73.8% pass rate, which increased by 0.5% from 2015. Notably, the pass rate in this subject was 52.9% when the DA took office in 2009,” said DA leader Patricia De Lille in a statement.

The DA also commended the Overberg District for achieving a 92.61% pass rate – the highest in the country – while the Metro Central, Metro North and West Coast Districts all achieved a pass rate of above 87%.

“Indicators of quality education extend beyond the first glance figures. We therefore welcome that the Western Cape Bachelor pass and the learner retention rates are the highest in the country. This is proof of the WCED’s commitment to quality education that will allow learners to access opportunities in future,” said De Lille. VOC