Gauteng Department of Education achieves 87.92% in the 2018 NSC Examinations
The Gauteng Department of Education congratulates the class of 2018 for obtaining an overall pass rate of 87.92% in the 2018 NSC Examinations. With this overall performance, which is the highest pass rate the GDE has achieved since 1994, we are pleased to announce that Gauteng Province is the top performing province nationwide.
It is important to note that, despite a difficult environment arising from a rapidly-growing system and tough economic conditions, the Gauteng Department of Education registered significant achievements in the delivery of quality basic education through its programmes and interventions in the 2018 academic year.
We have invested significantly in the upgrading and refurbishment of ordinary classrooms to enable ICT-readiness. The department dedicated a large portion of its budget to fund the procurement of technology (laptops, tablets, smart boards), and this contributed emensly to a signifact turnaround to township education.
We have commissioned curriculum experts to develop digitized curriculum content and engaged expert service providers to deliver intensive teacher training and on-site support. We are confident that this investment will bring about efficiencies over time, as we progressively phase out the use of paper-based textbooks and other traditional teaching and learning material.
This performance by our learners attest to the dedication and commitment of our learners and educators who have actively and consistently participated in departmental improvement programmes such revision classes, holiday camps and the Secondary Schools Improvement Programme (SSIP). For the period underreview, the SSIP programme targeted over 53 989 grade 12 learners in over 434 priority schools. More than 84% of SSIP learners passed the exam in 2018 compared 79% to 2017. 136 SSIP schools achieved above 90% pass rate. Eleven schools achieved 100%. This programme contributed towards the improvement of our results.
In 2018, 107 166 entered the NSC examinations. Of this number, 94 879 learners wrote all the 7 subjects and were resulted, while learners that wrote less subjects were 12 287. A total of 83 415 learners achieved a pass, giving the province a pass rate of 87,92%. This is a 2,78% improvement over the 2017 achievement of 85,42%. This makes Gauteng the best preforming province. This is also Gauteng’s highest performance since 1994 topping the previous best of 86,98% back in 2013.
The following are notable highlights of the 2018 Cohort of learners and GDE performance:
- 43,65% or 41 410 learners achieved a Bachelor pass
- 30,33% or 28 775 learners achieved a Diploma pass
- 13,87% or 13 160 learners achieved a Higher Certificate pass
- 70 learners achieved an NSC pass or an endorsement
- 126 schools in Gauteng achieved 100% pass rate
- 10 Township schools achieved 100% pass rate
- 8 of the top 10 performing districts nationally are in Gauteng
- All 15 Gauteng districts are in the top 20 performing districts nationwide
- We have achieved the highest percentage bachelor (matric exemptions) passes since 1994.
- Gauteng contributed the highest number of candidates qualifying for Bachelor studies in 2018 at 41 410 who wrote qualified for admission to Bachelor studies. For the first time we are number one in both in percentage and warm bodies. This is up by 7,65% from the 36% of learners achieved in 2017. Nationally, we contributed 24% of all bachelors achieved compared to 23% last year.
“Furthermore, we are pleased by the improvement of the quality pass, as 84% of all candidates that passed the NSC examinations attained results for higher education studies. This outstanding performance can be attributed to our investment on the improvement of township education. We are really closing the gap between the rich and the poor” said MEC Lesufi.
We have increased the number of schools, including township schools that have achieved 90% and above pass rate. This year about 250 schools achieved above 95% of which 108 schools achieved 100%. We are proud of the 10 township schools that achieved 100% despite the challenges facing township schools. About 41 township schools achieved above 95% and this indicate a significant upward spiral from the 25 schools that achieved above 95% last year.
We must congratulate Moqhaka Secondary School in Sebokeng in Sedibeng West District who with tremendous effort turned round the performance of the school from 54,24% to 94,29%, a staggering improvement of over 50%.
The department also made significant strides in closing the gap between schools serving poor communities, specifically township schools, and those with a strong middle-class component, as shown by the narrowing gap in the performance by fee paying and no fee schools. In 2009, township schools achieved an average pass rate of 60.1%, with fee paying schools achieving 84,2%, making for a gap of 24,1 percentage points. In 2018, the gap has been reduced to 4,6% compared to 12,3% in 2017. While both school types achieved better results, with township schools achieving a pass rate of 84,74% compared to 79,13% in 2017 and non-township schools 91,3% compared to 91,43% in 2017, a slight decline.
The department is immensely proud of the performance of progressed learners. The province had 5 596 progressed learners writing the NSC examination. These are learners who had not met all promotion requirements in Grade 11, but due to the progression policy requirement, could proceed to Grade 12 and were provided with support to address any learning deficits. Of this number, 3 937 (70.35%) passed, with 557 obtaining Bachelor passes and 1 838 obtaining a Diploma pass. This constitutes more than 50% of progressed learners achieving University entry.
All 15 education districts in Gauteng achieved a pass rate above 80% in 2018. This is the all-time best district performance in the province. 9 of the 15 districts achieved above the provincial average of 87,92%. In fact, 4 of these districts achieved above 90%, with Tshwane South District achieving 91,73%, followed by Johannesburg East at 90,33%, Sedibeng East at 90,2% and Johannesburg West at 90,15%.
Only 16 public schools performed below 65%, which is the national benchmark for underperformance.
The top seven districts in Gauteng featured in the National top 10 districts and All 15 of our districts are in the Top 20 Natioally.
Fourteen districts improved on their performance since 2017, In Gauteng North pass rate increased from 75,43% pass rate in 2017 to a pass rate of 87,15% in 2018, the year on year increase is 11,72% and a 8,04% from 2016. This is the most improved District.
The Sedibeng West also increased their pass rate from 81,94% pass rate in 2017 to a pass rate of 88,55% in 2018, the year on year increase is 6,61%. This is the most improved since 2014 with a 9,7% improvement.
Finally, Ekurhuleni South increased their pass rate from 80,72% pass rate in 2017 to 86,5% pass rate in 2018, the year on year increase is 5,78%.
The province achieved a total of 36 113 distinctions, compared to 36056 in 2017, across all subjects. We have contributed 23% of all national distinctions
The maths passes, at 74,4%, this year remains commendable. While there a increase of 5,7% from 2017, this performance is still over 14% above the national target of 60% pass rate for Mathematics. The successful achievers in mathematics deserve our congratulations because the 2018 exam was a very tough paper.
In Physical Science the pass rate is 83,46%, a 15% increase from 2017. Our performance in the life sciences was above 86%. The continued performance above the national target of 60%, for science subjects, still maintains that this as a positive indication of progress in quality.
We are pleased that, we recerded a 100% pass in isiNdebele, 100% in Tshivenda and 99,69% pass in isiZulu.
“The department has over the last 5 years, consistently worked towards improving the quality of education and pass rate amongst schools and learners. We are proud of the hard-work demonstrated by our educators, learners and districts, which proves that hard work pays off,” says MEC Lesufi.
A number of key indicators – quality of passes, progressed learners, spatial distribution, achievement in maths and science, achievement in language, and the number of university endorsements - serve as important points of reference for the quality of the matric pass rate in Gauteng.
The department takes this time to express sincere gratitude to parents and School Governing Bodies (SGBs) for their support, labour unions for contributing to labour peace in our sector, and learner formations for encouraging and upholding the goals of the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign.
“We congratulate the class of 2018 for their sterling performance in the NSC examinations and for contributing to the sustainable improvements in Gauteng. Our sincere appreciation to Team GDE at all levels of the system, all our teachers who went beyond the call of duty to prepare the learners for this success. We applaud principals of schools who achieved excellent results, and their learners notwithstanding the challenges that they faced” said MEC Lesufi.
We appeal to learners who have not achieved the desired results to enrol for the Matric Second Chance Programme at the district office.
Learners in distress are urged not to commit suicide, but to seek the necessary support and intervention and contact ChildCare on toll free line 0800 055 555 or ChildLine GP on 011645 2000 (during office hours).
For more information, contact the Gauteng Department of Education’s Spokesperson:
Steve Mabona
Cell: 072 574 3860
