Western Cape Education MEC praises the Matric Class of 2021

Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer has applauded the class of 2021. The province has achieved an 81.2% matric pass, an increase of 1.3% points from 2020.

Matric results were announced on Thursday night by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga.

Schafer has praised the results in light of COVID-19 and the multiple school closures due to the lockdown.

“I am absolutely delighted with the class of 2021. I really want to congratulate every single one of them. All our teachers, all our parents, all our learners and all our staff in the Department who worked incredibly hard to support these learners in one of the most difficult times. I really want to say a big big well done,” she adds.

In North West, Education MEC Wendy Matsemela will on Friday announce the province’s 2021 matric results at MM Sebitloane Special School in Taung.

The province has obtained a 78.2% pass rate.

This is an improvement of 2.0% from the previous year.

During her announcement of the national matric results, Motshekga said the North West was in the fourth position.

Free State took the top spot followed by Gauteng and the Western Cape.

UMALUSI weighs in on the results:

Meanwhile, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academics at Wits University, Professor Ruksana Osman, says the Department of Basic Education must be commended for producing good matric results in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Matric Class of 2021 has been lauded for obtaining the highest number of Bachelor passes in the history of the NSC examinations.

The overall provincial performance is as follows, with Free State leading at 85.7% @MECTateMakgoe @Lesufi @WCEDnews @nwdoe @DBE_KZN @MshenguKwazi @Mpueducation @ECDOEZA @NCape_Education #MatricResults2021 #Classof2021 pic.twitter.com/i7Cul78vlF

— Dr Reginah Mhaule (@ReginahMhaule) January 20, 2022

KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng contributed most to the bachelor passes, with 117 704 between the two provinces.

This is equivalent to 46% of the overall Bachelor passes nationally.

Osman says, “You have to acknowledge that children attending ‘no fees’ schools all come from poorer households with less access to resources, where parents don’t exercise great choice in what schools children attend. And from that point of view, it definitely is an achievement.”

“It will be important to look at where the students have done well, which particular areas and are these students predominantly from poor households doing well. So, I think in these ‘no fees’ schools, we do need to dig deeper, but of course, it is an improvement and must be commended,” adds the Professor.

–Additional reporting by Patrick Dintwa

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