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The Gauteng Department of Education hosted a special event at Nokuthula LSEN (Learners with Special Educational Needs) School, in Lyndhurst on 5 January to mark the release of the 2017 matric results.
The event celebrated all the hard work and strides the schools and students made in the last year, with the department recording an 85,14 per cent pass rate in all the Gauteng schools.
Of all the students who passed, 44 per cent were eligible to study for bachelor’s degree, 44 per cent were eligible for diploma studies and 16 per cent were eligible to study for a higher certificate.
Gauteng MEC of Education Panyaza Lesufi said, “We are the second largest provincial education system with 97 284 matriculants who wrote the National Senior Certificate examinations. Second only to KwaZulu-Natal. Gauteng represents 18 per cent of the total enrolment in the National Senior Certificate examinations compared to 17 per cent last year.”
He said even schooling districts in the province placed in the top ten in the whole country.
Lesufi added, “It is against this backdrop, that we congratulate the class of 2017 for achieving a provincial pass rate of 85.14 per cent in the NSC examination.”
He said the pass rate improved with 0.02 per cent from 2016 but added that he believes the province can do much better in the future.
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Gauteng premier David Makhura congratulated the students and their schools for the incredible work over the past year. He said, “The importance of education is to help young people realise their dreams.”
Lesufi also announced a few new developments within the department including complete digitisation of classrooms, which will improve learning in Gauteng. “We commissioned experts to develop digitised curriculum content and engaged expert service providers to deliver intensive teacher training and on-site support,” said Lesufi.
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He also announced the rollout of schools for specialisation and added that Gauteng already has 17 of these schools, with eight more on the way.
Details: www.education.gpg.gov.za