MEC David Maynier: Western Cape 2024 National Senior Certificate Awards

Good morning to our top candidates, 

Our top schools,

And our special guests.

We are a department that is more focused than ever before on:

• Improving learning outcomes,
• Expanding access to education,
• And driving education reform.

But we are also a department that is operating under tremendous pressure.

The past year has been one of our toughest yet, and we have had to make difficult choices to balance the budget. 

We know that this has been very hard on our schools.

Our principals, some of whom are here today, have ultimately been the ones to implement these difficult decisions, and we know that this has been a challenge. 

We want to thank our principals, for your leadership, for your courage, and for your support as we seek to navigate the challenges facing the basic education sector as a whole.

Class of 2024’s matric results

And it is because of the challenges that we have faced over the past year, that the extraordinary achievements of our Class of 2024 are so much sweeter.

This matric class has really done something special, setting new records for the National Senior Certificate exams in this province.

The highest matric pass rate ever for the Western Cape, at 86.6%.

The highest bachelors pass rate ever for the Western Cape, at 47.8%.

The top Mathematics pass rate in the country. 

The top Physical Science pass rate in the country.

The highest Grade 10 to 12 retention rate in the country.

And the top candidate in the country for the 4th year in a row. 

These are incredible achievements, and our Class of 2024 deserve a round of applause.

Message to our top candidates

To our top candidates who are here with us today:

We are so proud of what you have achieved.

Your schools are so proud of what you have achieved.

And your families are so proud of what you have achieved.

You have proven that you are the best of the best, and there is no limit to what you can achieve.

With us today we could have:

• Our future graduates of Oxford, Harvard, and MIT,
• Our future presidents and premiers,
• Our future UN Secretary General, or President of the World Bank, or Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund,
• Our future winners of the Fields Medal, the Booker Prize, the Nobel Prizes or the Academy Awards,
• Our future principals and teachers,
• Our future business leaders, engineers, artisans, designers, and technicians that our changing economy needs,
• And our future pioneers working at the frontiers of quantum physics, artificial intelligence, and research into cures for cancer and Alzheimer’s.

It can be done. 

The only thing that can stop you from getting there is not believing you can do it.

Quality of matric results

And in the same way we, too, need to believe that we can make the changes we need to make in order to deliver on our vision of quality education in the Western Cape.

So we must dig deeper into our matric results, and make sure that we are focusing on what matters, and the key quality indicators that matter when it comes to quality education. 

We need to look at our bachelors pass rates, because we don’t just want our candidates to pass matric, we want them to pass matric well, and to use that matric pass to build a better future. 

Yes, our bachelors pass rate for 2024 is the highest we have achieved to date, but it could be, and should be, higher. 

The problem isn’t the number of candidates, because a school with a large matric cohort like Mondale High School with 252 candidates has a bachelors pass rate of 81.0%.

And it can’t be because of social challenges in the surrounding community, because a school like Hector Peterson Secondary School in Wallacedene has a bachelors pass rate of 55.7%.

And it can’t be because of the economic circumstances, because a Quintile 2 no-fee school like Chris Hani Secondary School in Khayelitsha has a bachelors pass rate of 68.8%.

It can be done.

We need to look at our achievement in Mathematics. 

Yes, our Mathematics pass rate is the highest in the country at 78.0%, but we need to see:

More candidates writing Mathematics,

More candidates passing Mathematics,

More candidates passing Mathematics well, with a score of 60% or more. 

And again, our schools are not limited by their circumstances:

Joe Slovo Secondary School has a Mathematics pass rate of 96.0%, with 6 candidates earning distinctions for Mathematics. 

Siphamandla Secondary School has a Mathematics pass rate of 95.4%, with 11 candidates earning distinctions for Mathematics. 

And COSAT has a Mathematics pass rate of 98.3%, with 19 candidates earning distinctions for Mathematics. 

These schools are all in Khayelitsha.

It can be done.

And we need to look at improvement in pass rates, because it is our job to ensure that more of our matrics succeed in their exams.

It is clear that with the hard work of a dedicated teaching staff, the buy-in from the community, and the support of the Department, schools can improve even when the public has written them off.

Lotus High School had a pass rate of just 38.2% in 2022. Through the incredible efforts of their principal, Stephen Price, and teachers, as well as support from schools and communities around them, in 2024, they achieved a pass rate of 83.3%.

I have no doubt that this school is going to go from strength to strength.

Crestway High School had a pass rate of just 35.9% in 2023 – the lowest of any school in the province. 

But with a dedicated principal like Cheryl Jacobs, and hardworking teachers, the commitment of learners, and help from academics and alumni and the community, they have shaken off that result and turned things around.

In 2024, they nearly doubled their pass rate, to 66.1%, and I have no doubt that they will achieve another increase in 2025. 

It can be done.

If we are serious about quality education, then we need to be serious about quality indicators.

We need to invest in improving our bachelors pass rate, our Mathematics achievement, Physical Science achievement and overall improvement in underperforming schools. 

It can be done.

It must be done,

And it will be done. 

Going forward

So how are we going to get there?

We have set some clear priorities for the next five years.

• We will focus on improving learning outcomes, in early learning, Maths and Science, and technical education.
• We will focus on expanding access to education, by opening new schools.
• We will focus on improving school performance, with clear performance targets, support for staff, and implementing common assessment standards.
• We will focus on building public-private partnerships, mobilising private philanthropic and corporate investment in our education system.
• We will focus on evidence-based policy development, and improving our monitoring and evaluation capability.
• We will focus on mobilising sustainable, stable funding for education.
• And we will focus on leading education reform, bringing new models and ideas into the education sector.

This will not be easy, given the challenges we face. 

But it can be done, with the support of our officials, school staff, parents, and school communities. 

And it is on that note that I want to thank all of our WCED staff for their hard work this year, and the support they have provided to our learners.

To our Head of Department, Mr Brent Walters, and senior leadership,

To our principals, and our teachers, and our public service staff in schools,

And to our Head Office staff, and District Office staff:

Thank you for the dedication, care, and love that you give every single day to the children of the Western Cape.

Media Enquiries:
Kerry Mauchline
Spokesperson to Minister David Maynier
Email: Kerry.Mauchline@westerncape.gov.za