Inmates achieve 87.5% matric pass rate for 2022

Inmates who wrote the matric exams last year achieved a 87.5% pass rate, an improvement of 10.5 percentage points from the previous year’s pass rate.

This was announced by justice and correctional services minister Ronald Lamola on Monday.

“Our full-time schools achieved an impressive 95.9% matric pass rate, whereas part-time schools registered 63.3%,” said Lamola.

“When the two categories are combined, we stand at 87.5%, which is still above the 77% we achieved in the 2021 academic year.”

In 2021, 192 inmate learners wrote the National Senior Certificate examination, compared with 203 in 2022. Of those who passed in the recent exams:

• 122 [52.8%] received bachelor’s passes;
• 56 [24.2%] received diploma passes; and
• 10.4% achieved higher certificates. 

“This means that 77% of our learners qualified for access to tertiary education at a university or a college,” Lamola said. 

“The trends indicate that the focus is on the quality of passes received by learners.”

Eleven correctional services schools received a 100% pass rate, an improvement from last year’s eight.

Lamola said four of their learners received six distinctions.

Njabulo Moyo from the Umlalati Learning Centre in Umjindi, Mpumalanga, was the best performing learner with an average of 87.9%.

“I want to take this opportunity and congratulate all learners who excelled in their results. You worked hard and you will serve as a great motivator for the 2023 class, who we are hopeful will surpass your achievements,” Lamola said.

“Your journey for education continues. We hope you will further your studies. Those who could not make it, try harder this year and you will eventually succeed.”

The minister said the department continues to save taxpayers millions of rand through implementing its self-sufficiency strategic framework.

“This financial year, through utilisation of offender labour at our workshops, farms, art galleries  and bakeries, we are going to save R163m. Last year we saved R115m.

“Inmates are now producing their own food, allowing us to take off many items on our procurement list, hence these saving. Our aim is to rely less on the fiscus and there is no turning back. We want correctional centres to scale up production — there should be no centre which does not produce anything.”

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