By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, was beaming this morning as she congratulated learners who have produced excellent results in their National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams.
“I stand here with an immense sense of pride as we host our best learners. And for the year, we presented over 800 000 learners and more than 750 000 were full time learners and to be here, I’m sure it’s unbelievable. Indeed, you’re ahead of the pack in so many ways,” she told the country’s cream of the crop on Thursday.
Motshekga and Deputy Minister, Dr Reginah Mhaule, hosted a breakfast for the 2023 matric top achievers at the MTN Innovation Centre in Randburg, Johannesburg.
“I want to congratulate you and say thank you for making us very proud. Is it not so parents? You have made us really proud. For that, we’re really grateful to our children,” Motshekga added.
She told the boffins that their achievement was not a small feat and described their success as an honour that they would carry for the rest of their lives.
“South Africa stands with a sense of pride to commemorate the exceptional achievement of the 2023 top matric learners. Not matric learners, but top matric learners,” Motshekga stressed.
She told the attendees that the moment was not only a celebration of academic excellence but a testament to the resilience and determination of the youngsters.
“The class of 2023 was no ordinary class and indeed it has demonstrated extraordinary perseverance. In a period marked by post-pandemic challenges, we [weathered the storm].”
The 2023 NSC overall pass rate reached the 82.9% mark (compared with 80.1% in 2022 and 76.4% in 2021), an improvement of 2.8% and 6.5% from the pass rates achieved by the classes of 2022 and 2021, respectively. This represents 572 983 candidates who passed the 2023 NSC exams.
While the pass rate of the exams in number is the second highest in the history of the NSC exams, when expressed as a percentage, the pass rate of the 2023 NSC exams is the highest in SA’s democratic history.
Similarly, bachelor passes as well as passes with distinction produced by the Class of 2023 stand out as the highest in the history of NSC exams.
In 2023, a total of 253 807 distinctions were achieved. The main contributors towards passes with distinctions were KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, the Western Cape, and Limpopo.
- The Free State is the leading province at 89.0%, an increase of 0.5% from 2022.
- KwaZulu-Natal, the third-best improved province, achieved 86.4%, an increase of 3.4% from 2022.
- Gauteng achieved 85.4%, an increase of 1.0% from 2022.
- North West achieved 81.6%, an increase of 1.8% from 2022.
- Western Cape achieved 81.5%, an increase of 0.1% from 2022.
- The second-best-improved province is the Eastern Cape, with an achievement of 81.4%, an improvement of 4.1% from 2022.
- The best-improved province is Limpopo, with an achievement of 79.5%, a 7.4% improvement from 2022.
- Mpumalanga achieved 77.0%, a 0.2% increase from 2022.
- Northern Cape achieved 75.8%, a 1.6% increase from 2022.
None of the provinces performed below the 75% pass rate; and none have a decline when their 2023 NSC exam results are compared with those of the previous year.
Motshekga quoted the National Development Plan that “by 2030, South Africans should have access to education and training of the highest quality leading to significantly improved learners outcomes and the performance of South African learners in international standardised tests should be comparable to the performance of learners from countries at a similar level of development within similar levels of access”.
“Government has continuously and consistently implemented policies, programmes and interventions which clearly demonstrate the commitment to expand and enhance basic education through the implementation of social justice principals.
Also, while the Covid-19 pandemic has “disrupted” this upward trajectory, Motshekga said the department has put measures in place to safeguard their opportunity to achieve National Senior Certificate passes.
Watch Live in the video below:
Video Courtesy of ENCA.