The African National Congress in Mpumalanga would like to congratulate the class of Grade 12 learners 2019 for their outstanding performance in their final exams.
We also want to congratulate the hard working teachers, parents, guardians, school principals, school governing bodies and the department of education officials for putting extra efforts amidst all challenges including strikes and the unsafe acts towards learners and teachers during the 2019 period.
We applaud the department of education for organizing additional classes for Grade 12 learners during schools holidays, and preparing them for final examinations. These efforts are visibly seen on the improvement from 79% in 2018 to 80.3% in 2019, this is a clear testimony that all these efforts were not futile. However we are very much concerned about the marginal increase of 1.3% against the set targets.
The African National Congress in the province calls upon all learners who have passed their Matric to now channel all their energy and efforts to enrolling with credible and accredited institutions of Higher Learning, particularly Universities, Universities of Technology and TVET Colleges. All learners who have passed and will be proceeding to institutions of higher learning should avoid bogus institutions which mostly target desperate high school graduates.
We call upon all members of the Progressive Youth Alliance who are already within institutions of higher learning and training that they should within the next few weeks, join academic institutions` officials in ensuring that new learners are given the necessary support and information required for registration purposes, and this shall be done in making sure that no learner suffers from academic exclusion.
Read: Mpumalanga SACP salutes the province for improved Grade 12 results
The ANC in Mpumalanga humbly requests that all those who have passed must immediately register with institution of high learning to avoid a gap year, the efforts which the ANC government is putting in place with the industrial strategy and radical change of economic policy will result in many job opportunities and such will need highly skilled and trained Youth. Young people should go all out to attain the necessary skills, education and training so that they are ready to contribute to the development of South African economy and society at large.
Those who have not succeeded should not despair or commit suicide, because there are many options to explore, which include the second chance program of the department. Those who can repeat Grade 12 should gracefully do so and those eligible for supplementary examinations should from today work harder towards the examinations.
The ANC in Mpumalanga will ensure that government adhere to its announcement of converting NFSA loan to grant for learners who qualifies. This entails that our democratic government and State is efficient and on track to Open the Doors of Learning and Culture as espoused in the Freedom Charter. It is therefore the responsibility of all stakeholders in the education sector to contribute to the construction of a skilled, knowledgeable and expertise-driven society and economy.
We call upon government departments and private sector to popularize their bursary opportunities to all eligible learners. All Universities, Technikons and TVET institutions should function effectively at full capacity in admitting and enrolling more learners into their campuses. The ANC says no learner who is eligible to be admitted in an institution of higher learning or TVET should be kept outside.
The ANC in Mpumalanga wishes to convey its special gratitude to the following learners for lifting the Mpumalanga Province flag high and get a national recognition by the Minister of basic education in our country, the mentioned learners achieve 2nd and 3rd in top technical Maths, Science and top achiever in quintile four (4): Phillip Mnisi, Phumlani Mavimbela and Greta Kurpershoek. The learners are from Hazyview Comprehensive School, DD Mabuza Comprehensive School and Middelburg Hoerskool respectively.
We further wish to congratulate Ehlanzeni district for being the best performing district in our province by obtaining 84.6 % which is above both the provincial and national performance, we also wish to congratulate Steve Tshwete local municipality for being both the best performing municipality and best circuit in Steve Tshwete 3 with 89.0% and 94.3% respectively. We are particularly proud of the 31 schools in the province which obtained 100% pass rate for their hard work and commitment to the struggle of prioritizing education and ensuring that the doors of learning are open for all. We hope and believe that the 2020 class will draw strength and courage from the wise word of former President Nelson Mandela when he says “The Power of education extends beyond the development of skills we need for economic success. It can contribute to the nation-building and reconciliation”
We will ensure that we open up opportunities and encourage government institutions like the NYDA to open opportunities for learners that have not passed their grade 12. This will be through mobilizing these learners into Vocational Training Programmes, Entrepreneurial Development and Re-writing of grade 12.
The ANC in Mpumalanga wishes to extend its sincere gratitude to the Premier of the province for providing political leadership and support to the department and government at large, furthermore we thank the MEC, his officials, parents, educators, school governing bodies and all involved stakeholders of the department of education for this sterling achievement on the matric results of the class of 2019.
