All lower quintile schools in the Western Cape improved their matric performance, Western Cape education MEC Debbie Schäfer said on Wednesday.

They were still analysing the numbers, but were happy with the various improvements. The province had the highest matric pass rate in the country, at 84.7%.

Public schools are divided into five quintiles, with poor schools having a low quintile ranking and better-resourced schools a higher ranking. Quintile 1 to 3 are no fee schools.

Schäfer visited the Metro North education district office in Parow on Wednesday. It had the highest number of matriculants in the Western Cape, with over 10 500 pupils. More than 84% of these pupils passed their matric.

Mitchells Plain in Cape Town showed great improvement in last year’s exam, with 85% of pupils passing – up from 76.32% in 2014. Spine Road High School in Mitchells Plain achieved a 99.3% pass rate, closely followed by Mondale High School at 99.2%.

Schäfer said the Western Cape was reaping the fruits of various strategies.

“We put interventions in place from foundation phase already and more in Grade 8 and 9 to get pupils ready for their exams. We analyse the results every year and use them to formulate the school improvement plans. And this year we’ve really reaped the benefits of that combination.”

Schäfer, accompanied by district office director Hennie Brand and head of curriculum Ludwig Punt, said dedicated and committed parents were a great motivator.

Brand said parents were always willing to attend meetings on Sundays and took an interest in pupils’ progress.

“There were excellent improvements in all the levels. We experience wonderful, dedicated work from those schools. It’s fantastic,” he said. News24