Saluting matrics

Gardens Commercial High School and Cape Town High School topped the Western Cape’s 81.5% matric pass rate by scoring 87.1% and 94.3%, respectively. 

When the matric results were released to schools across the country on Friday January 4, Education MEC Debbie Schäfer congratulated the class of 2018 for achieving a 81.5% pass rate in the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination. 

The province scored the third highest pass rate, with Gauteng and Free State in first and second place respectively.

She said the matric results were the second key measure of the state of education in the Western Cape. “The Western Cape Government has always maintained that indicators of quality go well beyond the overall pass rate. We focus on the quality of the passes and the retention of as many learners as possible in the school system so that we can ensure the best possible opportunities for our young people in the Western Cape. I am therefore pleased that yet again, our indicators of quality show a sustained improvement in the Western Cape.” 
Cape Town High managed to improve their previous pass rate of 86.8%, while Garden’s Commercial’s matric pass rate dropped from 97.6% in 2017. 

The principal of Cape Town High School, Emilton Cloete, said the staff were very encouraged by the performance of the matriculants this year. He said while all schools want to receive a 100% pass rate, the school has been more realistic by setting a goal of a 95% pass rate. 

“We are so encouraged, despite the problems our learners faced.” He said out of 89 pupils who wrote the exam, only five had failed, and 33 passed with distinctions. There were many factors which impacted the school. We are a commuter school and there were a number of issues with the trains and buses, which are some of the main modes of transport. Because of this, there were problems with attendance as well as learners having to go home, so and we were limited with our extra activities and classes. However, we tried our level best. This year we set our goal to 96% and we hope that the performance of our 2018 class can motivate the 2019 class to improve.”
 
He said this year, the teachers were more positive, and morale was high, which makes it a good start for the new school year. 

“We try hard to stay close to the 100% pass rate, and if we get 100, it will be the cherry on the top.” When The CapeTowner tried to contact Gardens’ Commercial High School’s principal, Dylan Tommy, emails to the school went unanswered, and the secretary said Mr Tommy was busy in planning meetings.

Harold Cressy High School in District Six scored a 90.7% pass rate, down from last year’s 95.1%, and Trafalgar High School achieved an 86.1% pass rate, also down from last year’s 88.01%. 

Last week, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced that the Class of 2018 achieved a 78.2% pass rate compared to 75.1% in 2017. 

Gauteng came out tops 87.9% pass rate followed by Free State with 87.5% and the Western Cape is at number three with 81.5%, North West with 81.1%, Mpumalanga with 79%, KwaZulu-Natal with 76.2%, Northern Cape with 73.3%, Eastern Cape with 70.6% and Limpopo achieved a 69.4% pass rate.