Matric pass rate improves to 70.2%

(Image: GCIS)

"I am pleased to announce that the national pass rate for the Class of 2011 is 70.2%," Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said on Wednesday evening.

The pass rate represents an increase of 2.4% on 2010's pass rate of 67.8%.

In 2011, 496 090 candidates compared to 537 543 candidates in 2010 sat for their exams while the number of part time students who wrote their exams is 80 116.

Motshekga, who said she was proud to announce the results, said great strides were being made in the country's education system, adding that the progress was encouraging.

"South Africa congratulates the Class of 2011," she said of the results.

In 2011, 24.3% of Grade 12 learners qualified for Bachelors' studies - an increase from the year before when the figure was 23.5%.

A total of 104 033 matrics passed Mathematics and a further 96 441 passed Physical Science.

The department was pleased with the improved performance in Science while also remaining concerned about the number of passes in Maths, a decline from 2010's 47.4% to 46.3%.

Motshekga said the department would in 2012 focus on a strategy to improve the pass rate of Science and Maths. There was also a drop in the pass rate for Economics due to learners having difficulty with questions based on contemporary economic issues.

The department is also expected to focus on improving the participation of girl learners and helping schools to improve learner's subject choices while also working with several partners including the private sector.

Provincially, the Western Cape registered the highest pass rate in 2011 in the country at 82.9% followed by Gauteng at 81.1%. The Eastern Cape had the lowest pass rate at 58.1%.

The minister acknowledged that there was still a long way to go to eradicate inequity and that the results of the 2011 Annual National Assessments (ANA) were generally unfavourable.

She said the department knew where the problems were and would refine the ANA.

Learners in Grades 1 to 6 and 9 will write the 2012 ANA in September with the national results of ANA being announced in December.

"We congratulate the Class of 2011 for a job well done particularly those who performed exceptionally well. Some of you may be disappointed with your results. There are many options open to you to improve your results. Try again, don't give up now," she said.

The exams - the fourth since the implementation of the NSC - were incident free and proceeded without significant problems. "This goes to show the maturity of our examination system," she said.

The department's Director General Bobby Soobrayan said the results were evidence of intervention programmes introduced by the department.

"This is evidence of a maturing system, teachers have come to grips with the curriculum," he explained.

"The Class of 2011 was smaller than the Class of 2010 which shows that it's a system searching for equilibrium," he said. In 2011 total of 329 question papers were to be written.

Anxious learners can view their results in all major newspapers today, Thursday 5 January 2012.

Zuma hails matric pass rate

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President Jacob Zuma has hailed the 70.2% matric pass rate, saying it is a step in the right direction.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced the pass rate, which is an improvement from last year's 67.8%, in Pretoria earlier this evening.

In a statement, the President said he was pleased by a steady rise in the pass rate in the National Curriculum in the past four years.

Zuma congratulated all the matriculants who sat for the 2011 National Senior Certificate examinations and gave special acknowledgment to those who demonstrated outstanding performance in various subjects.

"We would also like to draw special attention to those matriculants who, even though faced with adverse learning conditions performed exceptionally well.

"You have demonstrated not only to your peers but to the rest of the country that your circumstances do not determine what you can and cannot do. We wish you well in your future plans," said Zuma.

He added that those who did not pass should not feel despondent or discouraged and should rather use the setback as an opportunity to reflect and improve.

The President further congratulated the Department of Basic Education for the improvement in the results, and commended parents and teachers who committed huge efforts towards the success of the 2011 class.

Most provinces improve pass rates

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has announced that most provinces in the country have achieved improved matric pass rates.

Only three out of the nine provinces achieved lower matric pass rates, namely the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Cape.

The Eastern Cape achieved the lowest pass rate with 58.1% down from 58.3% in 2010. The Northern Cape achieved a 68.8% pass rate, down from 72.3% achieved in 2010. KwaZulu-Natal achieved 68.1%, down from 70.7% in 2010, showing a decline of 2.6%.

The Western Cape, Gauteng, North West, Free State, Mpumalanga and Limpopo all achieved improved pass rates.

The Western Cape registered the highest pass rate with 82.9% up from 76.8% in 2009, an improvement of 6.1%.

Gauteng achieved an 81.1% pass rate, up from 78.6% in 2010, an improvement of 2.5%.

The North West achieved 77.8%, up from 75.7%, and improvement of 2.1%.

The Free State achieved 75.7% up from 70.7%, an improvement of 5.0%.

Mpumalanga reached 64.8%, up from 56.8%, representing the largest improvement by a province of 8%.

Limpopo achieved 63.9%, up from 57.9% and an improvement of 6.0%.

Regarding district performance, the minister announced that of the 81 districts in the country, 66 were performing at 60% and above passes, 10 were performing between 50% and 59% and five were below 49%.

The five poorest performing districts were all in the Eastern Cape, namely Butterworth, Fort Beaufort, Libode, Mount Frere and Sterkspruit. Of the other 10 poorly performing districts, six were in the Eastern Cape and one was in KwaZulu-Natal.