The Free State has clinched the highest number of learners who passed their 2022 National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams for four years in a row, scoring a pass rate of 88.5%, an increase of 2.8% from 2021.
The province is followed by Gauteng, which achieved 84.4%, an increase of 1.6% from 2021, while KwaZulu-Natal, the most improved province, attained 83.0%, an increase of 6.2% from 2021.
Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga, revealed this during the much-awaited 2022 Matric results announcement at the Mosaïek Church in Fairlands, Gauteng, on Thursday evening.
While COVID-19, load shedding and service delivery protests may have impacted the academic programme, the Minister said the Class of 2022 managed to bag an overall pass rate of 80.1% – an increase of 3.7% compared to the previous year.
The results show that none of the provinces performed below the 70% pass rate and none had a decline when compared with the previous year.
In addition, Motshekga announced that five provinces performed above the 70% pass rate, while four achieved over 80%.
The provinces with the highest improvements in their performances are KwaZulu-Natal with 6.2%, Limpopo with 5.3%, and the Eastern Cape with 4.2%.
This information is based on the 922 034 candidates who registered for the 2022 Matric exams (with 725 146 full-time candidates).
Meanwhile, the Minister said the National Development Plan (NDP) recognises districts as a crucial interface of the Basic Education sector in identifying best practices, sharing information, and providing support to schools.
“The continued growth in the performance of districts is closely monitored and evaluated by both the provincial and national Basic Education departments. From the monitoring oversight, analyses of the performance of all schools… will be done and made available to districts. This will assist and enable districts to reprioritise their support and intervention programmes.”
According to the Minister, none of the 75 districts attained pass rates lower than 60%, while four districts performed at 60% and 69.9%.
In addition, 29 districts – nine in the Eastern Cape, one in KwaZulu-Natal, seven in Limpopo, four in Mpumalanga, two in the North West, two in the Northern Cape, and four in the Western Cape, performed between 70% and 79%.
Meanwhile, 42 districts – three in the Eastern Cape, five in the Free State, 15 in Gauteng, 11 in KwaZulu-Natal, two in the North West, two in the Northern Cape, and four in the Western Cape, performed at 80% and above.
Provincial-level performance:
The Free State is the leading province at 88.5%, an increase of 2.8% from 2021.
Gauteng achieved 84.4%, an increase of 1.6% from 2021.
KwaZulu-Natal, the best-improved province, achieved 83.0%, an increase of 6.2% from 2021.
Western Cape achieved 81.4%, an increase of 0.2% from 2021.
North West achieved 79.8%, an increase of 1.6% from 2021.
The third best-improved province, is the Eastern Cape, with an achievement of 77.3%, an increase of 4.2% from 2021.
Mpumalanga achieved 76.8%, a 2.9% increase from 2021.
Northern Cape achieved 74.2%, a 2.7% increase from 2021.
The second best-improved province is Limpopo, with an achievement of 72.1%, a 5.3% increase from 2021.
The top 10 district-level performances in the country in descending order:
Motheo in the Free State, with 90.8%.
Fezile Dabi in the Free State, with 90.4%.
Johannesburg West in Gauteng, with 89.7%.
Tshwane South in Gauteng, with 89.0.
Gauteng North in Gauteng, with 87.7%.
Xhariep in the Free State, with 87.5%.
Thabo Mafutsanyana in the Free State, with 87.3%.
Ugu in KwaZulu-Natal, with 87.2%.
Umkhanyakude in KwaZulu-Natal, with 86.3%.
Johannesburg North in Gauteng, with 86.2%.
Source: South African Government News Agency