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- Western Cape matriculants have achieved an 81.2% pass rate.
- The 2021 matric results were announced on Thursday evening by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga.
- Education MEC Debbie Schäfer said she was "absolutely delighted with the results".
The Western Cape has managed to get its National Senior Certificate (NSC) matric pass rate back above 80%, at 81.2% in 2021. This is an improvement from last year's results when, for the first time since 2010, the province's pass rate slipped to 79.9%.
The 2021 matric results were announced on Thursday evening by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, who said the national NSC pass rate had increased to 76.4%. This showed a 0.2% increase from 2020.
Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer said she was "absolutely delighted with the results".
"Considering that this was achieved after two years of a global pandemic, makes it even more remarkable. The Class of 2021 has had a tough two years. Their Grade 11 year in 2020 was marred by school closures, with their grade going back to class later than many others. However, their matric year has been very stable, with more time in class than in other matric years," she said.
WATCH: Western Cape education MEC @DebbieSchafer and her team were elated after the #MatricResults announcement. @TeamNews24 @News24 pic.twitter.com/ky6WpNJOrB
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Schäfer added that schools and districts have been frantically busy putting in programmes to ensure matriculants are prepared for the examinations.
"Our schools, districts and head office have put in extensive time and effort to prepare these candidates, from providing extra classes in the afternoons and on weekends, extra revision materials, online revision support, and a host of other measures. The results speak for themselves," she said.
An elated Schäfer watched the matric announcement remotely from Cape Town on Thursday evening with the head of department.
Two districts in the Western Cape have also made the top 10 in the country.
She said:
The province has also earned bragging rights after achieving the highest Bachelor pass rate ever in the province, and the top Bachelor pass rate in the country at 45.3%.
Western Cape Education Department head Brent Walters said he was "extremely proud of the class of 2021".
"The students have outdone themselves. Thanks need to go to teachers and principals who guided these students. These students have put our province on the map."
The ANC's provincial spokesperson on education, Khalid Sayed, said the party welcomed the 2021 matric results with mixed feelings.
"We are disappointed that the Western Cape has not improved significantly from last year’s overall results. It upped its total pass rate by 1.3% from 2020 to 81.2%, and is the third best performing province, behind Gauteng and the Free State," he said in a statement released on Thursday evening.
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