The Eastern Cape has recorded a matric pass rate of 65% in 2017, an improvement of 5.7% according to Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga.
Announcing the outcome of the 2017 National Senior Certificate Examinations on Thursday night, she said the Eastern Cape and Limpopo were the only two provinces to record pass rates of below 70%.
However, she said government interventions in the two provinces had led to the improvement in the overall pass rate when compared to 2016.
The top-performing provinces were the Free State, Gauteng and Western Cape who all recorded pass rates of over 80%.
The four provinces that achieved above 70% were Kwazulu Natal (72.9%), Mpumalanga 74.8%, a decline of 2.3%, Northern Cape 76.6%, a decline of 3.1%, North West 79.4%, a decline of 3.1%.
Minister Motshekga said that the overall pass rate excluding progressed learners was 76.5% up 0.3% from 2016, while the pass including “progressed learners” was 75.1%, an improvement of 2.6% over last year.
“The total number of candidates, who registered for the November 2017 NSC examinations, was 802,431; comprising 629,155 full-time candidates, and 173,276 part-time candidates. Of these candidates, 534,484 full-time candidates, and 117,223 part-time candidates wrote the 2017 NSC examinations.”
The Minister mentioned that a total of 1,801 distinctions were attained, including distinctions in critical subjects, such as accounting, business studies, economics, mathematics and physical science.
With a total of 25,574 public schools in the country, Motshekga said that in the 12 key subjects (including accounting, business studies, economics, mathematics, and physical science among others), the total number of distinctions stood at 62,154, a decline of 4.6 percent from 2016.
The number of distinctions attained specifically in the gateway subjects was, 5,040 distinctions were achieved in accounting; 6,726 distinctions were achieved in mathematics, and 7,861 distinctions were achieved in physical science.
