Crawford College’s Lonehill campus has once again achieved a 100% pass rate.
The campus is one of the top-rated institutions in the country.
School Principal, Reinhard de Klerk, says the learners’ resilience is impressive.
“So we’ve got 93% who achieved a Bachelor’s Degree pass and 7% who achieved a diploma pass. A lot of what they would have as a normal schooling career, sort of hampered them in terms of their growth and for them to overcome that itself was fantastic,” adds De Klerk.
Learning was disrupted by COVID-19 in 2020 when they started grade 10.
Since then, they have had to learn under difficult pandemic conditions.
The Independent Examination Board’s (IEB) matric class of 2022 has achieved a pass rate of 98.42% for the National Senior Certificate, slightly higher than last year’s pass rate of 98.39%.
89.3% of the learners achieved entry to study for a degree, 7.52% qualified for entry to a diploma, while 1.57% achieved entry for study at the Higher Certificate level.
The results for the 12 580 full-time and 945 part-time candidates were released at midnight.
Max Naude from Trinity House College in Little Falls will be off to the University of Pretoria to pursue his computer engineering degree.
He will be doing this while also pursuing a swimming career at the institution.
The 18-year-old is among the IEB’s top achievers, obtaining 8 distinctions.
He says his secret is discipline and hard work.
“I think I knew what I wanted and since I wanted it so badly, I think I was able to do things that other people necessarily wouldn’t make the sacrifices … be disciplined. [I] woke up earlier, and got to bed later. I can now stand and do things other people can’t,” explains Naude.
Another top achiever is Neha Oodit.
The learner from Pinnacle College bagged seven distinctions.
She too will be pursuing studies in the field of computer technology at Wits University.
“I’m very happy. It was a tough journey. When it was over, it was such a relief. Obviously anxious waiting for the results. The studying and physical writing of the exams in that limited time frame,” she adds.
Anita Luo is on the other hand, broadening her horizons offshore.
She was been accepted to study media at New York University in the US.
She is from Crawford College’s Lonehill campus,
“My major is undecided at the moment, but I am leaning towards IMA which is interactive media arts. As someone who has experience with virtual reality games and exploring games, I think the course can provide the experience to connect people regardless of their background,” explains Luo.
The IEB has achieved an annual pass rate of over 98% for more than six years
While quality assurance body, Umalusi, has raised concerns over increasing exam irregularities in state schools, the IEB says it has not had that challenge.
Board chairperson, Anne Oberholzer, says their biggest challenge was rolling blackouts.
“For the IT and CAT examinations, they either hired a generator for the period that they were writing or moved to a venue where they were able to complete the exams without any problems. I would say the load shedding did seriously affect it. And also for the kids getting to school on time. Traffic is a nightmare during load shedding,” she explains.
Results for the Department of Basic Education’s National Senior Certificate will be released on Wednesday, 18 January by Minister Angie Motshekga.
VIDEO | Umalusi concerned with increased matric exam irregularities: Dr Mafu Rakometsi
