Ugu’s matric class of 2022 places first in KZN
The Department of Education in the Ugu District has developed an Academic Improvement Plan to support and develop schools that did not perform well in the matric examinations.
The director of Ugu District‘s Department of Education, Mfundi Sibiya is ecstatic about the exceptional performance of the matric class of 2022, which placed the district in first place in the province for the fourth consecutive year .
Sibiya said the achievement was tremendous for everyone involved in the education sector.
“It was made possible by the collaboration and cooperation of many individuals – the learners, educators, principals, parents, circuit and district officials, including unions and other stakeholders. This achievement belongs to each and everyone of them,” said Sibiya
He said the district has been performing well as far back as 2018 after it placed second, achieving a pass rate of 79.6%. Subsequently it placed first in the next four years – 2019 (86.3% pass rate), 2020 (76.2% ), 2021 (80.4%) and a 87,2% pass rate in 2022.
“Ugu was the top performing district in the province following large enrolments in Life Science, English First Additional Language (FAL), Physics, Mathematics, Accounting, Economics, Geography and History,” he added.
He said even though the numbers speak for themselves, the district’s focus is on giving learners access to gateway subjects such as Maths, Science and Technology.
“These subjects give learners access to the careers that they desire and the skills that the country requires. As a district, we do not focus on overall percentage pass rates. While they are important, we focus on other quality indicators and the district has been increasing annually in the number of overall distinctions, as well as, the number of learners that achieve Bachelor passes.”
The class of 2020 did face many challenges and Sibiya said it was important to note that the Class of 2022 proved to be resilient.
“The last few years have been challenging. We emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic and then last April the learners were impacted by the floods, which made accessibility quite difficult. The drought in Ugu and water challenges are still ongoing and sometimes do result in loss of teaching time.
“Load shedding is also a challenge. When it comes to administration of the exams, we had minimal disruptions due to planning and preparation,” he explained.
Sibiya believes that there is room for improvement and as a district the department is analysing performance. “We look at the performance in each subject, as well as, the quality indicators such as the number of distinctions and Bachelors passes, etc.”
He urged learners and schools that did not perform well last year, to make use of the district office’s developed Academic Improvement Plan aimed to support and develop schools in order to improve.
“Learners who are unhappy with their marks or have discrepancies are welcome to apply for a re-mark or re-check of their papers, which is a provision made by the Department of Education to address such concerns.
“Well done to the Class of 2022 and we look forward to the 2023 matric results next year,” Sibiya concluded
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