'It's safe to say the future is now the present': Mzansi reacts to IEB matric results

The class of 2020 is beaming with excitement after the release of the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) matric results..

On Friday, the IEB announced that the class of 2020 achieved a pass rate of 98.07%, a slight decline from last year’s 98.82%.

The board attributed the results to good, solid teaching and learning before grade 12.

LISTEN | Two-thirds of 2020 academic year was lost to Covid-19 school closures

Subscribe for free: iono.fm | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Player.fm

“These achievements are proof that the grade 12 year on its own does not provide the understanding, perseverance and resilience needed to achieve excellent results in the matric year, but that is the culmination of work and learning over 12 or 13 years of quality schooling,” said the board's CEO Anne Oberholzer.

Oberholzer said 88.42% (compared to 89.51% in 2019) of the cohort achieved entry to degree study, 8.14% (vs 7.91% in 2019) qualified for entry to diploma study and 1.51% (vs 1.4% in 2019) achieved entry for study at the higher certificate level.

She said the impact of Covid-19 on the schooling population, while not immediately clear in the numbers, saw several learners withdraw from the year and postpone completion of grade 12 until 2021.

“It is interesting to note that the hard lockdown had differing impacts across schools within the IEB,” she said.

“Some schools were able to make a smooth transition to online teaching and learning as they had the resources available and in fact, had already been using them in the normal course of events. Their teachers were experienced in this mode of delivery, as were their learners who had access to devices and stable internet connectivity.”

Gauteng had more than 50% of the IEB pupils (7,068), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (2,201), the Western Cape (1,358), the Eastern Cape (612), Mpumalanga (385), Limpopo (435), the North West (374), the Free State (155) and the Northern Cape (60).

On social media, the hashtag #MatricResults2020 topped the trending list as many shared how pleased they were with their results.