ZINGISA MKHUMA
“Focus, focus and focus. Study, study and study… there are no shortcuts to success,” This was a message from Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane to the Matric Class of 2023 ahead of this year’s final exams- starting on 30 October.
In an exclusive interview with Inside Education, Chiloane was upbeat and confident that the “resilient” class of 2023 in Gauteng, will do well in their final exams.
“I know they are going to the final NSC (National Senior Certificate) Exams and have just been through their prelims. I want to say to them that the prelims set the tone. Within the prelims, you know where to improve; you see where the challenges are.
The prelims are supposed to encourage you to improve in areas where you have not done well,” said Chiloane, who has previously vowed to reclaim the crown by returning Gauteng to the top position in terms of the matric pass rate.
The last time Gauteng was announced as the top performing province by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga was in 2018 with 87,9% pass rate. The Free State province has dominated the top matric results position for the past four years, with Gauteng having to settle for second position.
In 2022, Gauteng managed a pass rate of 84,4%, while Free State, under the leadership of the late Education MEC Tate Makgoe, achieved a pass rate of 85,7%.
Chiloane is adamant that his department will improve the matric pass rate for Gauteng to 90% and the Bachelor pass rate to 50%.
“The Matric Class for 2022 [in Gauteng] did a sterling job by achieving a pass rate of 84.4% which represents an improvement of 1.6% as compared to the 82.8% pass rate that was obtained in 2021.
In 2022 there was a total of 43 298 distinctions, which saw over 20 769 distinctions came from township schools. which is a “monumental achievement”. The GDE pass rate has consistently been higher than the national pass rate and this trend continues,” said Chiloane.
He said one of the greatest achievements to note was the progress made by Gauteng in closing the gap between former model C and township schools’ pass rate from 12% to 9%.
“In the 2022 NSC examination, 24 learners from township schools received total marks in Mathematics, Business Economics and Economics. In 2023, the department endeavour to improve the matric pass rate for Gauteng to 90% and the bachelor pass rate to 50%, with specific emphasis in reducing the difference in NSC pass rate between township and ex-Model C schools to 7%.
Further emphasis will be placed on increasing learner participation in Mathematics and Science and ensuring that 21.5% of learners are achieving 60% and above in Physical Sciences and 17.5% of learners are achieving 60% and above in Mathematics,” said Chiloane.
Chilaone encouraged the more than 200 000 Grade 12 learners expected to sit for their senior certificate exams in Gauteng to study harder.
“You have gone 12 years at this point; it’s just one more lap you have to run, and you have prepared for 12 years for that lap. There is nothing to fear. You have to get there, study hard, cut social media, cut things that will distract you, focus, and focus, research and study. There is no shortcut to this. Studying hard is the only way. And I believe in you all that you will make it.
Chiloane also had a word of encouragement for the Grade 12 learners from more than 400 Secondary Schools Improvement Programme (SSIP) to take advantage of the extra tuition offered by the department.
The SSIP, which is now in its thirteenth year of operation, focuses on improving learner performance in the FET Phase (Grades 10-12), with the aim of improving the learner performance in Gauteng. The Grade 12 programme offers support to 446 priority underperforming schools, who performed under 80% in the 2022 National Senior Certificate examinations.
The programme includes supplementary tuition on Saturdays at 289 walk-in sites, during school holidays at 15 residential camps across all districts and in the period running up to the end of year exams for about 15 000 Grade 12 learners. Support is offered in thirteen (13) core subject areas – Mathematics, Technical Maths, Mathematical Literacy, Physical Science, Technical Science, Accounting, Business Studies, Economics, Geography, History, English First Additional Language (FAL) and Home Languages.
Additional training is offered to 1 200 FET teachers.
“The advantage of these classes is the one-on-one engagement with tutors … They can monitor and teach them how to score marks in the exam and prepare for exams. Learners are also taught to have confidence when they enter into exams. If you are not confident about yourself, you will probably fail. All in all, it’s about focusing on areas where they need support,” said Chiloane.
INSIDE EDUCATION
