Matric results are out!

2007-12-28 07:28

Johannesburg - The national pass rate for matrics has dropped, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said on Thursday.

"While the 2007 pass rate is positive in some respects, it is still negative in a number of our key performance criteria," she said.

"While we should celebrate the successes, our primary response must be to assert that we will continue to give emphasis to the implementation of effective strategies that will support increased success at all levels of schooling."

Spokesperson for the ministry, Lunga Ngqengelele, said the number of pupils who passed Grade 12 rose from 272 488 in 1998 to 368 217 in 2007.

However, the pass rate declined each year since 2004; in 2007 the pass rate was 65.2% compared to the 2006 pass rate of 66.5%.

The Western Cape and Gauteng were the two top provinces - with pass rates of 80.6% and 74.6% respectively in 2007.

The Eastern Cape and Limpopo were the two provinces with the lowest pass rates, with pass rates of 57.1% and 58% respectively.

Top provinces

The number of pupils able to take advantage of university study has remained consistently above 85 000, even though the endorsement rate has declined from 18.2% in 2004 to 15.1% in 2007.

The Western Cape and Gauteng were the two top provinces, with endorsement rates of 24.6% and 20.4% respectively.

The Eastern Cape and Limpopo provinces were the two bottom provinces, with endorsement rates of 9.3% and 11.7% respectively.

Higher grade Mathematics pass rates increased from 25 217 in 2006 to 25 415 in 2007 and standard grade from 110 452 in 2006 in 123 813 in 2007.

Higher grade Science pass numbers in 2007 (28 122) were down on 2006 (29 781), but there was a significant increase from 81 151 in 2006 to 87 485 in 2007 in the number of standard grade passes.

- SAPA