“We will never be satisfied until we get 100 percent pass rate,” he said.
Makhura, together with Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi, addressed top performing pupils, parents and several dignitaries at a packed Linder Auditorium for the announcement of the province’s 2014 National Senior Certificate results.
“I am happy with their performance. And what is also interesting to us is that the township schools are also in the top list. But I won’t say 84.7 percent represents our standard. Our target was 90 percent, but I am satisfied.”
The premier emphasised that the education department needed to track each and every child and school in the province. “We not want them to pass but we want to know where they go and where the they end up,” he said. “We are an accountable leadership and we want that in all levels. We also want sustainable results.”
Lesufi said while he was humbled by the performance of the pupils, he was concerned by allegations of cheating during exams. Six schools in the province were implicated in cheating. “We will not tolerate cheating and will not be associated with cheating,” he said. “The department is finalising its report but if these schools are found guilty, we will immediately as a province, de-register the examination centres…The subsidised independent schools, if found guilty, they can kiss their subsidies goodbye.”
The premier and the MEC also revealed that the province would finance the studies of a disadvantaged Tembisa pupil who against all odds achieved five distinctions. “To Reginald Champala’s single mother, you will suffer no more, as we will take over your child’s financial needs,” he said referring to the Tembisa pupil.
