Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga says the country’s matric results in the past five years are proof that the country’s education system has stabilised.
The Minister was addressing KwaZulu-Natal’s 2023 National Senior Certificate results ceremony in Durban. The province achieved an 86.4% pass rate.
KwaZulu-Natal’s matric pass rate is the second highest in the country after the Free State. More than 167 000 learners wrote matric, the highest number nationally.
The Class of 2023 recorded more than 72 000 bachelor passes. Motshekga says it is time to shift the focus to Early Childhood Development.
“We are confident that the system has doubled, now we can introduce new changes because it has stabilised. We could not temper with the system until we were sure that people knew what to teach and how. Now we are confident that in the past five years, it’s a demonstration of a stabilised system. We must implement ED because the return in ECD is immense.”
KwaZulu-Natal’s top matriculant Olwethu Khumalo says he could not have excelled without dedicated educators and discipline. Khumalo is from the Mandla Mthethwa School of Excellence at Ndumo village in Jozini.
He obtained eight distinctions with a hundred percent in Physical Science, Engineering Graphics and Design, Accounting and Life Orientation.
He plans to study actuarial science at the University of Cape Town. His advice to this year’s matric class is to study early.
“I wouldn’t say that I expected the results that I got but when I got them it was not that surprising because it is a fruition of the goals, I had set myself. The advice that I can give to other learners is that they must not work hard but they must work smart and begin early, so the more time you have to rest the more you can recall information because your mind is relaxed and it’s not under pressure, but when you start trying to put all the work in a short space of time, in that way it all gets congested and then you have problems.”
Imtiaz Bux and his son Mohammed were at Durban’s Orient Islamic School from early in the morning to collect his results. Mohammed took home A’s and 2 B’s. His father Imtiaz commended his wife’s support to their child.
“She always made sure that he did his work on time, and made him feel very positive about his studies. And I think that really assisted him. She herself, you know, did excellently in school. “
Teacher unions SADTU and NATU applauded educators for the province’s pass rate. They are, however, calling on the Department of Education to improve the working conditions of educators. This includes the non or late payment of financial allocations to schools, a shortage of educators and safety concerns at schools.
