MEC: Gauteng Department of Education ANC Provincial Deputy Chairperson

There can be no denying that the Covid-19 pandemic severely impacted education in Gauteng in 2020. While the Class of 2020 began their Grade 12 year with high expectations; the learners soon discovered, like the rest of the world, that 2020 would be no ordinary year.

For many of the 152 000 learners who sat for the National Senior Certificate, the final year of schooling was characterized by the anxiety of having to write matric; while contending- ing with the pandemic and the added stress and uncertainty it brought.

The added stress of the Class of 2020 included prolonged school closures, shortened school holidays, after-hours and weekend classes, limited educational and extra-curricular opportunities for some learners and youth.

However, the myriad of challenges that faced this dedicated group of learners did little to deter them from reaching for their dreams – and many achieved amazing results. To say that I am proud of these learners would be an under-statement.

The Class of 2020 achieved a pass rate 83,8%, a 3,5% decline over the 2019 achievement of 87,2% compared to 5,1% decline nationally. This was no easy feat and the Class of 2020, the first to sit for exams under the disruptions brought about by the novel Coronavirus pandemic, deserve all the kudos and congratulations they are receiving.

We celebrate the Class of 2020 with much pride and excitement despite a difficult environment arising from, not only, a rapidly-growing system and tough economic conditions, but the full might of the pandemic. All stakeholders in the education sector also deserve a word of praise for going beyond the call of duty to assist and support Grade 12 learners. Learners, teachers, and School Management Teams (SMTs) have truly earned the commendations they have been receiving for the resilience they have shown in braving the pandemic with a single goal of ensuring the Class of 2020 receives optimum support.

Despite a difficult environment arising from a rapidly-growing system and tough economic conditions, the Gauteng Department of Education registered significant achievements in the delivery of quality basic education through its programmes and interventions in the 2020 academic year. Faced with severe budget pressures, we have, once more, delivered on our core mandate.

Gauteng is still the leading performing province by virtue of the size of the provincial system. We are the second-largest provincial education system with 110 184 matriculants that wrote the National Senior Certificate examinations compared to 97 717 matriculants in 2019.

What is more important, perhaps, than the 83,8% pass rate for 2020, are the detailed indicators showing the increasing quality of the teaching and learning in our schools in the province. It is the details of the 2020 results which show that the positive trends of the last seven years continue.

In respect of Bachelor passes, Gauteng achieved another first. At 45,09%, we achieved the highest percentage of Bachelor (matric exemptions) passes since 1994 and the highest number in the country. We achieved the highest number of candidates qualifying for Bachelor studies, ever, in 2020, with 49 679 who wrote qualifying with a Bachelor pass. This is up from the 43 494 Bachelors’s passes in 2019. Gauteng achieved the highest Bachelor pass rate of all provinces. I am very proud of these achievements, especially given the challenges the learners had to overcome.

Over 27,84% of learners, or 30 675 learners who wrote, passed with a diploma pass. We are encouraged by the fact that more learners who passed the National Senior Certificate exams in 2020 – 72,9% – passed with a Bachelor or Diploma pass qualifying them to go into higher education.

Several Gauteng township schools have also performed well, with four schools achieving a 100% pass rate and a Bachelor’s rate above 60%. Those schools include Diepsloot Secondary No 2 (76,9%) Bachelor passes; Rusoord Secondary School (73,9%) Bachelor passes; Marlboro Gardens Secondary School (69,2%) Bachelor passes and Denver Secondary School (66,1%) Bachelor passes. I want to congratulate these schools on a job well done!

It must, also, be noted that just over 91,7% of Gauteng schools perform above the nationally defined benchmark for school underperformance of 65%.

We have also made significant strides in closing the gap between schools serving poor communities, specifically township schools, and those with a strong middle-class component, as shown by the narrowing gap in the performance by township and non-township schools. In 2009, township schools achieved an average pass rate of 60.1%, with non-township schools achieving 84,2%, making for a gap of 24,1 percentage points. In 2020, the gap has been increased to 11,8% compared to 2,78% in 2019 and 4,6% in 2018.

The success of our township schools can largely be attributed to the efforts of our Secondary School Improvement Programme (SSIP). These were designated priority schools because, for historic and other reasons, they have, in the past, not achieved the outcomes learners, parents, and the GDE expect. The SSIP programme provides extra classes by expert teachers on Saturdays and during school holidays, as well as the final matric revision camps in October.

Last year, our SSIP programme targeted over 65 734 grade 12 learners in over 436 priority schools from the word go in January 2020. More than 78,7% of SSIP learners passed compared to 78,5% in 2019. 79 SSIP schools achieved above 90% pass rate. Four SSIP schools achieved 100%. So, it is particularly pleasing to note that the SSIP programme has again proven its full value, improving results and showing that more township children than ever before are benefitting from the efforts all involved in SSIP have put into the programme

I am also extremely proud that all our 15 districts performed above the national average of 76,2%. In fact, the Top 5 districts in Gauteng featured as the National Top 5 districts, with 6 Gauteng districts in the Top 10. This is most impressive in the year that just passed. The Tshwane South district achieved an 89,6% pass rate as the top-performing district.

The province also achieved a total of 41 459 distinctions, compared to 37 422 in 2019 and 36 113 in 2018, across all subjects. We have contributed 23,4% of all distinctions nationally.

The maths passes, at 65,4%, this year remains commendable. While there was decreased from 2019, this performance is still above the national target of 60% pass rate for Mathematics. The successful achievers in mathematics deserve our congratulations because the 2020 exam year was very tough.

In Physical Science, the pass rate is 72,6%, a slight increase from 2019. Our performance in Life Sciences was 76,5%. The continued performance remains above the national target of 60%, for science subjects, still maintains that this as a positive indication of progress in quality.

Almost 10 973 more girls wrote the matric exam than boys. 87,7% of boys passed compared to 86,9% of girls. 45,5% of girl learners achieved a Bachelor pass compared to 41,2% of boy learners. Boy learners pass rates are higher than those of girl learners when it comes to maths and science performance. We will review intensify our interventions in 2020 to address these disparities.

As the GDE, we will, as is the norm, continue to support all matriculants that have failed. We will provide a Second Chance Programme in 2021 to assist learners who need to complete the National Senior Certificate. We will assist them in the subjects they have failed to ensure that they completed the requirements for passing.

The Second Chance Programme in 2021 will focus on the following three phases:

• Supplementary Exam: Candidates sitting for exams in June 2020 will receive support in the form of printed resources and multimedia broadcasting solutions; and
• Progressed Learners: Learners who previously modularised and who will be sitting for exams in June, will receive support in the form of tutoring during April-June, as well as printed resources and multimedia broadcasting solutions in the rest of the districts. Lastly, as the GDE we are conscious of the fact that the remarkable performance that we saw from our matriculants could not have happened without our educators and principals, and for that, we remain eternally grateful. Once again, congratulations to the Class 2020.

“The success of our township schools can largely be attributed to the efforts of our Secondary School Improvement Programme (SSIP). These were desig- nated priority schools because, for historic and other reasons, they have, in the past, not achieved the outcomes learners, parents, and the GDE expect”.

“However, the myriad of challenges which faced this dedicated group of learners did little to deter them from reaching for their dreams – and many achieved amazing results. To say that I am proud of these learners would be an understatement”.