MEC Panyaza Lesufi hails 'historic' 2020 Gauteng matric results

Top-performing township schools singled out

24 February 2021 - 16:51 By kgaugelo masweneng
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Gauteng MEC of education Panyaza Lesufi and premier David Makhura pose with members of the department and the top crop of the 2020 academic year.
Gauteng MEC of education Panyaza Lesufi and premier David Makhura pose with members of the department and the top crop of the 2020 academic year.
Image: GDE

The top overall performing pupils in Gauteng for the 2020 academic year are from the Tshwane South district.

Noelle van der Walt from Hoërskool Menlopark came third, Carla Dippenaar from Hoërskool Waterkloof came second and in first place was Karla Reinecke, also from Hoërskool Waterkloof.

This was announced during a department of education celebratory event on Wednesday.

“We might accept that our results declined by 3.5% but the reality is: in the history of our province, and in the history of our country, no single province has made 92,000 learners pass matric — and more than 45,000 get bachelor passes to go to a university of their choice,” said education MEC Panyaza Lesufi.

Johannesburg West came second and Gauteng North was the third-best district.   

Lesufi said some of the milestones achieved included the quality of passes, progressed pupils, spatial distribution, gender, achievement in mathematics and science, achievement in language and the number of university endorsements.

“As Gauteng alone, out of 100% bachelor passes that are available nationally, Gauteng contributed a total of 23.6%. If you add diploma passes, the total number of learners that have passed to go to any higher institution of their choice stands at 73%.

“So 73% of learners that wrote matric in Gauteng last year can go to any higher education institution to enrol for a skill of their choice, thus cementing our decision to be the centre of a skills revolution in our province,” he said.  

Lesufi said not only did the Gauteng department of education exceed the 2020/21 annual performance plan (APP) target, it surpassed the 44.46% achieved in 2019.

Gauteng achieved the most ever candidates qualifying for bachelor studies in 2020, with 49,679 who wrote qualifying with a bachelor pass. This was an improvement from the 43,494 bachelor passes recorded in 2019.

Despite hurdles faced by pupils in the past year, the province achieved a total of 41,459 distinctions — compared to 37,422 in 2019 and 36,113 in 2018 — across all subjects.

The MEC said he was especially pleased with the performance of township schools that achieved a 100% pass rate and a bachelor pass rate above 60%. These were:

  • Diepsloot Secondary No 2, with a 76.9% bachelor pass;
  • Rusoord Secondary School, with a 73.9% bachelor pass;
  • Marlboro Gardens Secondary School, with 69.2% bachelor passes; and
  • Denver Secondary School, with 66.1% bachelor passes.

“I want to congratulate the principals of the 82 township public schools that achieved above 90%. This is down from the 132 schools that achieved above 90% last year. It must also be noted that just over 91.7% of Gauteng schools performed above the nationally defined benchmark for school underperformance of 65%.”

TimesLIVE


subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now