The Chairperson of the Select Committee on Education and Recreation, Lungelwa Zwane, has officially welcomed the 78.2 percent matric pass rate for the 2018 cohort of the National Senior Certificate in a press statement released 4 January 2019.
The statement said that the committee was of the firm view that the gains made within the system since the democratic dispensation and must be applauded.
“This is despite many challenges that continue to face the system, especially ensuring that the quality of education is similar to all learners within the system,” Zwane emphasised.
The statement went on to read that the achievement of these results, inclusive of progressed learners, strengthens the argument that the intervention implemented by the department was a correct one and will ensure that the drop-out rate is decreased.
The committee said that it also welcomed the overall improvements by provinces in ensuring that the majority, in exception of Limpopo, achieved over 70 percent pass rate. The committee has called for more focus from Northern Cape and Western Cape to arrest the decline experienced this year.
“We are always looking for a growth trajectory and not regression,” Zwane said.
The committee went on to reiterate its call that the foundations for high matric results are “perfected at lower grades, particularly the foundation phase, and much more focus should be directed at those grades and ensuring that learners are adequately prepared before they reach matric.”
Zwane confirmed that the committee remains committed to assisting the departments, both at national and provincial levels, to ensure quality education system that is required to achieve the ideals of the National Development Plan.
Devina Haripersad
