Social grants recipient fared well in matric

Social grant recipients in the Class of 2016 fared very well with over 80% of those who wrote the matric exams qualifying to study further.

During a media briefing‚ Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini said that 188 758 of the 674 620 pupils who had registered to write matric in 2016 had been recipients of a social grant.

These include children who come from youth-headed households‚ those from from single-parent homes‚ or live with their grandparents or in foster homes.

Of these‚ 95% had actually sat the exam.

“This suggests that over 10 000 grant recipients dropped out of school before sitting for their final examinations. We commit to investigating reasons for this drop-out‚” she said.

But those who did sit for the exams fared remarkably well with 83% of them qualifying for a bachelors or diploma pass which would allow them to study towards a diploma or a degree at a university‚ college or technikon.

Forty-one percent of social grant pupils who sat the exam achieved the sought-after bachelor's pass which qualifies them to attend university.

Dlamini said “the girl-child continues to take all the opportunities given to her by government”‚ with over 112 000 girls making up the total number of grant recipients writing their matric exams.

“Of most concern to us is that only 66 002 were boys. We need to be concerned about the boy-child‚” she said.

Dlamini said the removal of the means test to qualify for student loans through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme for social grant recipients meant that many of these pupils would be able to access higher education.

“There should be no hindrance in them pursuing their chosen careers‚” she said.

– TMG Digital/Parliament