MBOMBELA – The EFF and DA in the province have praised and applauded all successful matriculants for the 2014 academic year.
Both the official opposition parties in the provincial legislature have welcomed the increase in the province’s matric results.
Speaking to Mpumalanga News after the announcement of the results on Tuesday, the EFF’s provincial legislature leader, Mr Collen Sedibe said the class of 2014, teachers and parents deserved a standing ovation for a job well done after a taxing year.
“We welcome the increase and would like to applaud all the learners who passed, not forgetting their teachers and parents who also play a pivotal role in ensuring that these children succeeded,” said Sedibe.
He added that although the results improved, there was a dire need to improve the pass rate in both maths and science.
“As the EFF, we would like to challenge the Department of Education and our provincial government to re-establish some of the closed colleges to concentrate on teacher development, especially in mathematics and science.
“Such institutions can also be utilised to accommodate matric learners during school holidays and on weekends,” he added.
For the DA Mr Anthony Benadie said,
“Mpumalanga’s matric results have been on a steady increase for the past six years and the current
79 per cent pass rate marks the first time that the province and all its districts have climbed above the national average.
“The DA warmly congratulates Hoërskool Nelspruit for being the best-performing school in the province for the third consecutive year.”
But the DA also noted areas of concern.
“It is, however, worrying that the number of underperforming schools in the province has shown a sharp increase, from 11 to 84 in the space of a single year. An increase that can be attributed to the department’s declining focus on the quality of educational content. It is also concerning that only 38,38 per cent of learners who entered grade 1 in 2002 passed their matric exam in 2014, indicating an ineffective retention strategy by the department.
“In this academic year, the DA calls on education MEC, Reginah Mhaule to renew the department’s focus on insuring quality education especially in the paramount subjects of maths and science,” Benadie added.
