South African Grade 12 NSC Pass Rate for 2019 Is 81.3%, However Drop Out Rates Remain High
South Africa’s grade 12 National Senior Certificate (NSC) pass rate has increased from 78.2% in 2018 to 81.3% for the class of 2019, which is the highest it’s been in 25 years. The Independent Examinations Board (IEB) matric class of 2019 achieved a pass rate of 98.82% – slightly down from the 98.92% registered in 2018.
Department of Basic Education (DBE) Minister Angie Motshekga announced the 2019 National Senior Certificate (NSC) exam outcome on Tuesday evening in Midrand.
Motshekga said the top performing province was the Free State at 88.4%, followed by Gauteng with 87.2%, North West (86.8%), Western Cape (82.3%). KwaZulu-Natal (81.3%), Mpumalanga (80.3%), Eastern Cape and Northern Cape (both 76.5%) and Limpopo (73.2%).
A total of 790,405 candidates wrote the 2019 examinations at 7,416 examination centers during October and November last year. The department also conducted examinations for 212 pupils at correctional facilities. “It is really a very large system, we had 147 question papers. There were 7.6-million scripts that were distributed to the examination centers,” said Motshekga.
The number of candidates achieving admission to Bachelor’s Degree programs increased from 172,043 in 2018 to 186,058.
However, Nomsa Marches, DA’s Shadow Minister of Basic Education, said that a total of 1 052 080 learners were enrolled in grade 10, yet only 409 906 learners eventually passed matric last year. Therefore, the pass rate does not reflect the quality of the education system in South Africa, as more than half of learners are dropping out before getting to grade 12.
The Western Cape is the province with the lowest drop-out rate (33.4%) and therefore the highest real pass rate, standing at 54.8%. The Free State’s real pass rate only stands at 38.4%.
“Every child has the right to quality basic education”, Marches said.
You can view the results on the DBE’s website here.
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