Staff Reporter
The Free State has retained its top spot as South Africa’s best performing province in the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations after achieving an 85.1 percent pass rate for the 2020 academic year.
Announcing the results from Pretoria on Monday, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said the overall pass rate for the country had however dropped to 76.2 percent.
“I was expecting a bloodbath,” said Motshekga, who described 2020 as a strenuous academic year.
“The overall pass rate including the progressed learners is at 76.2 percent, a drop of 5.1 (percentage points) from last year.”
“I am grateful to all teachers. We tried all in our powers to claw back time,” she added, referring to the disruptions experienced in the schooling system due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The minister said if the progressed pupils were not included the pass rate would be 81.2 percent while the Free State figure would have jumped to 91.6 percent.
Progressed learners are those who are allowed to go to Grade 12 despite failing Grade 11.
Gauteng province came second with a pass rate of 83.3 percent, followed by the Western Cape with 79.9 percent.
KwaZulu-Natal achieved a 77.6 percent rate; the North West 76.2 percent; Mpumalanga 73.7 percent; Limpopo 68.2 percent; the Eastern Cape 68.1 percent; and the Northern Cape 66 percent.
In 2019, the Free State also outperformed all other provinces with a pass rate of 88.4 percent.
Free State Education MEC Tate Makgoe is expected to announce the provincial matric results tomorrow morning.
This year’s provincial announcement will take a hybrid approach comprising six events across the province in order to comply with alert Level 3 regulations of the Disaster Management Act.
The main event which will be held at the University of the Free State South Campus in Bloemfontein will be simulcast to each of the five districts in the province from 9am.
Only a limited number of guests will be permitted at all the venues as current regulations stipulate that no more than 50 percent of a venue’s capacity may be occupied at a gathering.
The event will also be broadcast live on eight community radio stations, Lesedi FM and various social media platforms.
In Motheo district, the event will be held at Tsoseletso Secondary School in Bloemfontein.
In Thabo Mofutsanyana district people will gather at Ntsu Secondary School in Bethlehem; Lejweleputswa district at Leseding Secondary School in Welkom; Fezile Dabi district at Samuel Sebego Paki Secondary School in Vredefort; and Xhariep district at Ipetleng Secondary School in Petrusburg.
Premier Sisi Ntombela, provincial education department head Tsoarelo Malakoane, other senior government officials and sponsors of the events are expected to join the MEC for the special announcement.
 examinations after achieving an 85.1 percent pass rate for the 2020 academic year.){kind=link}