Western Cape Education officials say the department is working hard to place learners who have remained outside the system.
More than 4 000 learners are still not placed. Senior officials appeared before the Standing Committee on Education via a virtual meeting.
They briefed the committee on the issue of unplaced learners, the 2021 matric results in the province and the readiness for this school calendar year.
The Department’s senior official, Archie Lewis, says by next week they will know the exact number of learners the system can absorb.
The provincial Education Department cited gangsterism in some areas, migration of learners, and late applications as the reasons behind the long-standing annual challenge.
It also says the continued rotational schooling system, introduced during lockdown levels, is negatively impacting children’s education.
Over 1 million learners have registered for this year’s academic year in the Western Cape. In July 2021, the province had a backlog of over 30 000 unplaced learners. An admission team was established to focus on placements during the fourth quarter.
In the report below, nearly 3 000 Western Cape learners are yet to be placed in schools:
Matric results
The Western Cape matric pass rate has improved by 1.3 percent to 81.2 percent in 2021.
It also achieved the highest percentage of Bachelor passes in the country with just over 45%.
VERY well done to the W Cape class of 2021 – improvement of 1.3%, over the 80% again, third position in the country with the highest % of bachelor passes, 2 districts in top 10 and improvement in retention from Grade 10-12 to 70%! All during a global pandemic! SUPER proud of you
— Debbie Schafer (@DebbieSchafer) January 20, 2022
The MEC for Education, Debbie Schäfer, says the province exceeded expectations given the immense challenges of 2021.
Schafer has also praised the results in light of COVID-19 and the multiple school closures due to the lockdown.
In the video below, SABC News visited a top-performing school in Kraaifontein after the release of the matric results:
