The overall matric pass rate for 2020 may have dropped by 5.1% compared to 2019, but the resilience shown by pupils while studying under Covid-19 has received high praise.
Basic education minister Angie Motshekga left the podium at the release of the 2020 National Senior Certificate exam results in Tshwane last night with her head held high despite the decrease in the pass rate.
More than a million learners, who sat for the 2020 exams, achieved a pass rate of 76.2% compared to the 83.1% achieve in 2019 and 78.2% in 2018.
Again, the Free State led with a 85.1% pass rate, a drop of 3.2%. Gauteng was second with 83.3 (a decline of 3.5%), followed by Western Cape (79.9%), KwaZulu-Natal with 77.6% (dropped by 3.7%), North West at 76.2% (declined by 10.6%) and Mpumalanga at 73.7% (dropped by 6.6%). Limpopo took the seventh spot with 68.2% pass rate (dropped by 5%) followed by Eastern Cape at 68.1% (dropped by 8.3%) and lastly North Cape with 66.6% (declined by 10%).
Despite the numbers, Motshekga said the class of 2020 scored 177,435 distinctions, the most distinctions compared to previous years. This figure also represented a 13.1% increase from 2019.
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“As much as we had a drop, I’m grateful to all South Africans who helped us. In essence, I was expecting a bloodbath. I’m grateful and appreciative to our teachers and learners who held their own in very difficult conditions. We tried everything to claw back on the lost [class] time. I’m glad that in the midst of all the difficulties we were able to stay at 76.2% with more quality passes this year,” said Motshekga.
The year 2020 will go down as one of the toughest years in the history of the education calendar in SA because of the challenges posed by Covid-19 pandemic which led to the country be put on lockdown from March. This resulted in attendance disruptions and pupils also had to adapt to virtual learning and little to no contact with their teachers.
Sadtu general secretary Mugwena Maluleke said the dedication and commitment from the teachers played a role in producing the good results.
“Despite the period of anxiety and uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 virus, our teachers still called for our learners to come back to schools and help them graduate so that they too can enter the higher education sector,” said Maluleke.
General secretary of the Professional Educators Union Ben Machipi said they were pleased with the results as the year 2020 was a year of its own kind that was plagued by Covid-19.
The National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA said while it was important to celebrate the results, recognition should also go to the teachers in lower grades who prepared last year’s matriculants.
Free State education MEC Tate Makgoe said he was proud of the class of 2020.
“We are very excited with the results, especially with the country facing the pandemic. We would not have done it alone as the department, therefore we would like to thank our teachers and parents who under these conditions were able to work together with our department.
"We had unconventional ways of teaching which was a challenge for our learners, but we are grateful that they pushed themselves really hard,” he said.
Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said he was content with the results.
“My worry was about saving the academic year and I believe that with the experience we have about Covid-19, we will improve on how to prepare the class of 2021,” he said.
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