It’s been 12 years in the making but it certainly was worth the long hours, sheer dedication and hard work for over 75% of the country’s matric learners.
With Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga having announced a 75.1% matric pass rate for 2017 -- a 2.6% improvement from the 72.5% achieved in 2016 – hundreds of thousands of learners and their families have much to smile about this evening.
A total of 401 435 candidates have passed from the 534 484 full-time candidates and 117 223 part-time candidates who wrote the 2017 NSC examinations.
At the live broadcast of the 2017 results at the SABC in Auckland Park, SAnews caught up with some of the matric top achievers.
Takalani Bambela (17) from Tshivhase Secondary School in Limpopo told SAnews that he is happy with his achievements. Bambela is the top student in Physical Science.
“Throughout the year, I have been working very hard. It was not easy and I had to work very hard,” he said.
Bambela encouraged other learners to work hard in their studies, saying education is the key to success.
“Without education, life is difficult,” he said.
Bambela said he is going to study Actuarial Science at Wits University.
Another top achiever, Erin Solomon from the Western Cape, obtained third position in Physics. Like Bambela, Solomon said he worked hard throughout the year.
“I am very happy with the achievement,” he said, adding that he is going to continue working hard in university.
Solomon will also be studying Actuarial Science at the University of Cape Town.
Khodani Nemalamangwa from Thengwe Secondary School in Limpopo took second position in Maths and again second position in Maths and Physics. Like Bambela and Solomon, he will venture into Actuarial Science at the University of Cape Town.
“Preparation and a lot of hard work got me here,” he said.
Nemalamangwa thanked his teachers and parents for encouraging him to work hard.
“Without them, I would not be here today,” he said.
Nemalamangwa encouraged other young people to focus on their studies as education is the key to success.
Raising the bar
Minister Motshekga said much has been done to improve education and that more still needs to be done.
“We are increasingly prioritising interventions and policies that target an improved quality of learning and teaching, and implementing accountability systems to ensure that quality outcomes are achieved.
“More specifically, we have deliberately prioritised early grade literacy,” the Minister said.
Minster Motshekga said the Class of 2017 is the 10 group of learners to sit for the National Senior Certificate, and the fourth cohort to write CAPS-aligned NSC examinations. – SAnews.gov.za
