C Dugmore on Western Cape matric results announcement

28 December 2006

Although we are proud of the overall results of Western Cape schools, it
remains clear that we can and must do better. Of the 39 832 candidates who
wrote the full set of examinations in 2006, 33 316 passed. This represents an
overall percentage pass rate of 83,7%.

Although this is slightly down from the figure of 84,4% last year, I am
pleased to note that, in real terms, 1 238 additional candidates sat the full
set of exam and 743 more candidates passed. This increase in numbers, plus a
generally consistent performance overall, bodes well for the future.

I have repeatedly stressed that we should also focus on the quality of the
passes achieved by our matriculates. This year, 10 589 candidates passed the
Senior Certificate with endorsement, which is 195 more than last year.

The number of candidates, who passed with distinction, is also up. This
bumper total of 2 280, or 5,73% of all candidates, who passed with distinction
is our best achievement for the period 2002 to 2006. We have seen a slight but
steady increase in this category in each of those years. Well done to the class
of 2006 for maintaining the trend.

I note other slight increases: An additional 79 candidates sat for the Maths
Higher Grade this year. Of the 4 741 candidates who wrote Science on the Higher
Grade, 4 053 passed; this is 688 more passes than in 2005.

I would like to applaud the fact that the pass rate in ex- Department of
Education and Training (DET} schools has increased by a pleasing 3,68% this
year and that, in fact, ex-DET schools have reached their highest endorsement
rate yet over the 2002 to 2006 period, with an increase of 0,47% over last year
and a slight 0,05% increase in the number of passes with merit.

It is a matter of record that these schools have had the biggest resource
backlogs to make up, so I am most encouraged by this evidence of diligence and
sound progress.

I must also be forthright about the challenges. I must state boldly that we
can never be happy with a situation where the public ordinary schools which
serve the 17 554 ex- House of Representatives (HOR) and ex-DET learners have
only an endorsement rate of just above 13,53%, while in ex-CED schools the
endorsement figure, for the 6 501 learners of 2006, is 52,13%.

So, whilst we are really proud of our achievers, we are not satisfied. As
the Western Cape we can and we must do better. In this regard, there are six
clear interventions that we will be making:

1. Embark on the Quality Improvement, Development, Support and Upliftment
Programme (Quids-Up)

This initiative, led by Minister Pandor, aims to allocate new learning
resources to schools, especially in poor and disadvantaged communities.

2. Set targets

By the end of February 2007, each high school in the province is to set an
overall pass target, a Matric Endorsement target, and Maths and Science targets
for 2007. These targets must be formally signed by the school governing body,
including the Representative Council of Learners (RCL) representatives.

3. Broaden our base

Work on literacy and numeracy across the board what is also very clear to me
is that we cannot just look for weaknesses in our high schools. We need to work
in our primary schools as well.

4. Make our schools a safe learning home for all one of the issues that has
impacted severely on our schools this year and in previous years, is the levels
of violence in and around our schools, and the aggressive behaviour of
learners. We have planned, and will implement, an unprecedented inter-sectoral
campaign to build a safe learning home for 2007 and beyond.

5. Monitor and evaluate

I believe the redesign process of the department must lead to greater
research capacity, monitoring, evaluation and accountability. As a learning
organisation, one of our key challenges is to understand our context,
challenges and possibilities, and to respond to them.

6. Tackle the situation in the 34 schools with less than a 60% pass rate

The 2006 results have revealed that 8% of our high schools have less than a
60% pass rate, and there are many more that are under-performing and not
securing endorsements. The time has come to say that continued
under-performance will simply not be tolerated. We will conduct a full
contextual analysis of each under-performing school by the end of January
2007.

My message to all those that have passed is congratulations! To the
individual candidates honoured today for achievements in Maths, Sciences and
Languages, and to those candidates who have excelled despite a significant
barrier to learning, well done, you are role models of a special kind. To the
top 20 whom we honour today, enjoy your success! You have surely worked for
it!

For those that did not make it, you do have various options available. You
can apply for a re-mark of some or all of your scripts; you can enter for the
supplementary exams for next year. But, you can also apply to be admitted to a
Further Education Training (FET) college for vocational courses.

To the proud parents, well done too! I know you have put in so much. To the
troubled parents of the disappointed, please call our help lines for support
and advice.

Hope needs to be nurtured and cultivated. How can we all get stuck in and
make a difference? For far too many of our learners just "getting a matric" is
the biggest target they can see.

And for far too many of them there are no real plans to take them beyond
today. They might get the bit of paper today, but tomorrow there is no job, and
the next day, or the day thereafter, there may be no more hope.

I appeal to our partners, to business, to non-government organisations
(NGOs), to the tertiary institutions and to the media, to help our children to
find the doorways to jobs, to learnerships, to volunteerism, to internships and
to further study, so that they can live the dreams that they have for
themselves and for which their parents have made sacrifices.

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to conclude by thanking all our officials the
examiners, markers, invigilators, teachers, principals and administrative
personnel for helping to process over one million scripts.

It really is a huge operation, so thank you to the curriculum and exams
teams, under the capable leadership of Brian Schreuder and Sigamoney Naicker. I
must thank, in particular, Andre Clausen and Jenny Rault-Smith who together
with hundreds of personnel worked long hours to deliver another examination of
integrity and professionalism.

Enquiries:
Gert Witbooi
Media Liaison Officer
Tel: (021) 467 2523
Fax: (021) 425 5689

Issued by: Department of Education, Western Cape Provincial Government
28 December 2006