The province’s pass rate is up from its 2012 results of 83.9 percent and surpassed the Gauteng Department of Education’s target of 85 percent.
“All in all, 85 122 Gauteng pupils passed matric in 2013, up by 9 888 pupils or 13.14 percent when compared with 2012,” Creecy said.
Gauteng matriculants achieved a total of 35 903 distinctions in maths, which is regarded a ‘gateway subject’ for admittance to further education, and saw a five percent increase in the number of distinctions to 2 177.
Despite accounting results not faring well nationally, 19 Gauteng matriculants obtained 100 percent for the subject in the national exams.
“The 2013 figures tell us not only that the numbers of Gauteng pupils passing matric are at an all high, they also underline that we have achieved 17.42 percent more bachelor passes which means that 38 104 Gauteng learners have earned the right to apply for further education,” Creecy said.
Creecy noted that all 15 districts in Gauteng achieved a pass rate above 82 percent for the first time. Speaking at the awards ceremony for Gauteng’s top achievers in Johannesburg, Creecy said the results are an indication of the continued improvement in the quality of education in the province.
She added that the gap between fee paying and no fee schools is being bridged, and that no-fee schools achieved a 81.4 percent pass rate while fee paying schools achieved a 90.7 percent pass rate.
Comparing the 2013 pass rate of no-fee and fee paying schools to their results in 2009, which 60.1 and 84.2 percent respectively, Creecy highlighted that performance gap between no-fee and fee paying schools had been more than halved.
Creecy attributed the improved results to the department’s Secondary School Improvement Programme (SSIP), which was introduced in 2010 to provide extra tuition to pupils and continuous support to underperforming schools.
The top performing pupil in Gauteng was from a Secondary School Improvement Programme school, Creecy said. Additionally, as a result of these schools the number of public schools with a pass rate below 60 percent had declined from 188 since 2009 to just 19 in 2013.
