Dube-Ncube wishes 2022 matriculants luck

KWAZULU-NATAL Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube has wished the provincial matric class of 2022 the best of luck during their final examinations, which started today – Monday.

She also congratulated this year’s matriculants for defying the odds and for making it thus far as they sit to write their first paper.

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In 2021, the matric pass rate in KwaZulu-Natal was 76.8%, which set an important benchmark as the province seeks to attain an 80% pass rate in 2022. They also seek to pay more attention to special schools.

“I would like to wish the KwaZulu-Natal matric class of 2022 the best of luck during their exams. I am incredibly proud of each and every matric learner across the province. Leading up to today, we acknowledge that this group of learners went through disturbances such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the July [2021] civil unrest and recently the devastating flood disasters in April and May. In spite of these challenges, we are hopeful that they will do exceptionally well despite the odds that have been stacked up against them as they sit for this all-important milestone in their schooling careers,” she said.

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education’s examination system is the biggest in the country with 198 866 full-time and part-time candidates and 6 022 invigilators in 1 780 centres.

Premier Dube-Ncube expressed the provincial government’s gratitude to the learners, teachers, unions, parents and school governing bodies for playing their critical roles in preparation for these final examinations.

She also called on communities to support the education of their children by protecting school infrastructure by working with police, community policing forums and other stakeholders – to protect school assets, high-tech equipment and buildings from vandalism, theft and destruction.