Gauteng matrics: good to better

Of the more than 88 000 matriculants who passed last year’s matric exams in Gauteng, 77 000 are eligible to study at higher education institutions, MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi said yesterday.

Announcing the province’s matric results in Daveyton, Ekurhuleni, Lesufi said the number of candidates who just got a matric pass was reduced by 21%.

“This means that the majority of our pupils are now in the higher bracket of the passes that we need. What is more encouraging is that 73% of our schools, regardless of whether they are in the township or in urban areas, if you go to those schools you are guaranteed a matric pass. It’s a very important development,” he said.

The provincial pass rate was 85.1% – an improvement from the 84.2 achieved in 2015.

He said of the almost 103 000 pupils who sat for the exams, 88 381 got matric certificates. Gauteng was the province with the highest number of bachelor passes at 23% of national bachelor passes.

Lesufi also acknowledged Pretoria Girls High School, which was embroiled in a racial discrimination spat last year, saying that of the 260 pupils who wrote matric exams there, 251 obtained bachelor passes.

He said the province has made significant strides in improving access to education, particularly for children from poor and disadvantaged backrounds.

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“We remain committed as a province to improving the quality of education and preparing young people for life. To achieve this we have adopted five important strategies which include improving learning performance at grade 3, grade 6 and grade 9 for language subjects and mathematics as well as reducing repetition rates by 5%,” he said.

Lesufi also expressed confidence that the system was on track towards delivering quality education.

“By the end of our political term in 2019 Gauteng matric passes should stand at 90% and this is an agreement we have entered into with the premier and we remain on track.

“Last year’s results also indicates that we have invested our resources in turning our education system in all our townships around,” the MEC said.

Premier David Makhura also congratulated the class of 2016, stressing that education was the only way out of poverty and calling on municipalities to assist with tertiary education funding.

– stevent@citizen.co.za