The Western Cape Education Department says it’s delighted that the province has achieved an 81.2% matric pass, an increase of 1.3% points from last year.
Provincial Education Minister, Debbie Schafer, says the fact that results were achieved after two years of COVID 19 makes it all the more remarkable.
She says the Class of 2021 has had a tough two years, with multiple school closures during the lockdown. The province also achieved its best-ever percentage of bachelor passes at 45.3%.
Schafer will officially announce the province’s results on Friday while the top matric learners will be introduced early next month.
Free State achieves 85.7% pass rate
Free State again achieved the highest matric pass rate at 85.7% – which is an improvement of 0.6% from 2020. Gauteng came in second with a pass rate of 82.8% – which is a 1% decline from last year.
Gauteng was followed by the Western Cape with 81.2%. Only one province failed to breach the 70% pass rate.
Highest Bachelor passes
The class of 2021 has been lauded for obtaining the highest number of Bachelor passes in the history of the NSC examinations.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has presented the overall pass rate for the national matric class of 2021 at 76.4% on Thursday at the SABC’s Auckland Park offices in Johannesburg.
KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng contributed to the most number of Bachelor pass with 117 704 between the two provinces. This is equivalent to 46.0% of the overall Bachelor passes nationally.
Minister Motshekga says the class of 2021 has performed exceptionally well.
2021 National Senior Certificate overall pass rate, with the progressed learners included, stands at 76.4%. Motshekga says this is an improvement of 0.2% from the pass rate achieved by the Class of 2020. She says the improvement comes despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Systemic Evaluation
The Minister says her department will introduce a Systemic Evaluation study in Grades three, six, and nine – next month and in March – which she says are critical exit points prior to Grade 12.
The study of the three grades will assist in better understanding the learning trajectory from primary to secondary schools. She says it will also give a more comprehensive picture of the impact of COVID-19.
“Within this framework, the Department has taken initial steps towards the introduction of a General Education Certificate (GEC) in 2023 – a commitment that was made in 1995 by our democratic Government in the very first White Paper on Education and Training, Government Notice No.196 of 1995.”
‘Get a printed results’
While matriculants will gain access to their results via media outlets – including SABC – from midnight tonight, the Department of Basic Education is urging all pupils to visit schools on Friday to receive the official statement of their printed results.
Almost 900 000 matrics registered to write the 2021 NSC examinations, of which 82% were full-time candidates.
Department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga says, “The Department of basic education also has a similar facility where people have registered. You needed your exam and ID number. We are still sensitive to people’s personal information, we want to protect that. We are asking people to furnish us with their details so we know it’s the rightful owner of that information. The Department wished that everybody go to the centre where you wrote your exam where you will get a printed statement of results.”
2021 National Senior Certificate Examination Results announcement:
![[File photo] Pupils are seated in an exam room.](https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Matric-Free-State-Twitter-@MECTateMakgoe.jpg)
![Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola. [File image]](https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Lamola-T.png)
