Class of 2020 delivered a praiseworthy performance

The matric class of 2020 deserve a round of applause, as they outperformed expectations, passing the toughest academic year with a 76.2% pass rate and more distinctions and bachelor passes than the year before, said experts.

Basic education Minister announced the long-awaited National Senior Certificate (NSC) for the class of 2020, which faced hurdles of a pandemic, missing nearly a whole term of education, and the leaking of mathematics and physical science exam papers.

Despite the challenges faced, the results were given a thumbs up last week by education quality assurance board Umalusi.

Also Read: JUST IN | Matric 2020 pass rate of 76.2% better than expected ‘blood bath’ – Min Motshekga

“The overall pass [rate], including progressed learners, is at 76.2%, which is a drop of 5.1%. As much as we have a drop, I am really grateful to all South Africans for helping us because I was expecting a blood bath,” said Motshekga.

The Free State province again took the number one spot, with 85.1% pass rate, declining by 3.2% from 2019. Gauteng again came in second place, declining by 3.5% to 83.8%. While Gauteng were the runner up, they outperformed all districts, with the top five performing districts falling under the province.

For the second year in a row and the third time in the past five years, the Tshwane south district has taken the cup.
“Tshwane south is the top district nationally… The second district is Gauteng west, the third is Gauteng north, the fourth is Johannesburg north and the fifth is Sedibeng in the east of Gauteng,” the Minister said.

The North West province, which was regularly in the top four best provinces, however saw a dive in their pass rate, significantly decreasing by 10.6%.

A praiseworthy performance

This was a great performance by the cohort as unlike the 2019 matrics, they did not have any classroom action, said University of South Africa’s school of education’s Professor Moeketsi Letseka.

He said analysts and experts had projected dip in pass rate between 6% and 8%, but the group had instead shown resilience, he said.

“We need to recognise that this class never experienced what we call class room action. Social distancing and staying at home meant these kids lost the entire academic year as a result of Covid-19… We as experts expected a decline. We didn’t expect this class to do well.”

“In terms of different levels, the 2020 class was doing well, more than the 2019 class. I am humbled by the performance of the 2020 class. I expected worse than this. I thought we would be looking at 60 something percent for the class,” Letseka said.

What was more reason to celebrate was the high number of learners with a bachelor pass, said education associate professor at the University of Johannesburg Professor Nicky Roberts.

Bachelor passes increased by 13.3% to 210 820 while distinctions jumped by 13.1% to 177 435. Gauteng again recorded the highest number of bachelor passes for 2020.

But the closure of extramural activities and social gatherings could have contributed, Roberts said.

“We need to celebrate the high numbers of learners with bachelors and seeing that Gauteng is doing well. I think that last year, the matrics were appropriately prioritised. They were given the most access to schools and many didn’t go on holiday. None of them did sports or drama productions and were not going out. I think all of that helped them have an academic focus,” said Roberts.r

rorisangk@citizen.co.za

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.