Cape Town – The matric class of 2019 was celebrated in front of proud parents, teachers and education officials yesterday after another year of impressive passes.
Among those awarded for their outstanding achievements were the top three pupils in the country, Madelein Dippenaar from Paarl Gimnasium, Gary Allen from Rondebosch Boys’ High School, and Anuoluwa Makinde from Milnerton High School.
The class received a range of awards in celebration of their 82.3% pass rate in the province. Among them was the most improved high school, schools with the highest number of bachelor passes, as well as the top performing schools and pupils.
Education MEC Debbie Schäfer said there was a little disappointment that the province moved from third place to place fourth nationally.
“No team is happy to see their ranking drop down the league table. But we must keep our eyes on the real prize: ensuring that we get better every single year, giving our youth the best possible opportunities to make a meaningful difference in their lives and our country,” she said.
“Despite some politicians not understanding the meaning of the word ‘regress’, our pass rate has increased from 81.5% last year to 82.3%.
"Obviously I am pleased about that, but what I am not pleased about is that the key issues of retention, bachelor’s passes and the performance in key subjects is not included in the calculation of the league table. It is simply the percentage pass rate.”
The Metro North education district achieved the highest district percentage pass rate in the province at 86.3%.
The Overberg was very narrowly beaten – it achieved 86%
“Our schools also achieved great results; 69 schools achieved a 100% pass rate. Of these, 27 have had a 100% pass rate for at least the past five
years and nearly two-thirds of Western Cape schools have a pass rate of
over 80%.”
Schäfer lauded the progress made at quintile one, two and three schools, where both the pass rate and bachelor’s pass rates increased.
In quintile 1 schools, the pass rate increased by 1.5% and the bachelor pass rate by 4.4%.
“This improvement shows that passion and dedication can overcome the resource difficulties many of these schools face, and that the Western Cape’s efforts to close the inequality gap are bearing fruit.
"The pass rate of quintile 1, 2 and 3 schools together has increased by 17% since 200,” Schäfer said.