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Senior Certificate Examination Results show improvement; now is the time to consolidate

Efforts to improve the performance of the education system are yielding positive results, said Professor Kader Asmal, MP, Minister of Education in Cape Town today (Thursday, December 28).

In this regard the Minister announced an overall improvement of 9 percentage points in the pass rate, from 48.9% in 1999 to 57.9% in 2000.

Professor Asmal said that he was particularly pleased that there has also been a 1.5 percentage point improvement in the number of candidates that passed the Senior Certificate Examination with endorsement. In 1999, 63 725 candidates (12.5% of the total number of students) obtained university admission as compared to 68 626 (14.0% of the total number of students) in 2000, despite the fact that 65 465 fewer students sat for the university admission examination this year. This means 4 901 more candidates now qualify for university entrance.

Minister Asmal stressed that notwithstanding a few minor hiccups, the integrity of the examination process, had not in any way been compromised.

He commended all the nine provinces for having recorded an improvement in their pass rates. The pass rates are as follows: Gauteng 67.5% (1999:57%); Northern Province 51.4% (1999:37.5%); KwaZulu-Natal 50.7% (1999:50.7%); Eastern Cape 49.8% (1999:40.2%); Free State 52.7% (1999:42.1%); Mpumalanga 53.2% (1999: 48.3%), Northern Cape 71.2% (1999: 64.3%); North West 58.3%(1999: 52.1%); Western Cape 80, 6% (1999:78.8%).

Professor Asmal also said that the number of schools that obtained a pass rate of between 0% and 20% have decreased from 940 in 1999 to 499 in 2000. In addition, he announced that the number of Higher Grade passes in the gateway subjects increased in Mathematics from 54.3% in 1999 to 64.6% in 2000 and in the Physical Sciences from 61% in 1999 to 65.1% in 2000. The number of those taking and passing these subjects at Standard Grade level has also risen.

The Minister said: "Not only have we improved the overall pass rate, but we have also broken the cycle of under-performance in a number of schools. The 1999 results indicated that a significant number of our schools were under-performing. These schools which are predominantly located within disadvantaged communities, are confronted with a multitude of problems inherited from our shameful apartheid past. Our efforts over the last year, were therefore focused on improving the quality of learning and teaching in these schools."

According to the Minister these successes have been as a result of focused and concerted interventions by the National and Provincial Departments of Education to improve learner performance across the system. The Minister further maintained that these efforts would be re-doubled to ensure continuous improvement in the performance of our schools.

The Minister congratulated those students that have achieved and expressed his gratitude to teachers, principals, Departmental officials and parents for their tireless efforts as well as consistent support in ensuring the success of the Senior Certificate Examination.

Professor Asmal invited members of the public requiring information about the media conference to access the Education Department's Website at http://education.pwv.gov.za.

Enquiries: Mr Khetsi Lehoko, Deputy Director General, at 082 3726257
Bheki Khumalo, Ministerial Liaison Officer, at 082 781 2660

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