Premier Ebrahim Rasool says matric class of 2007 has done us proud, again

The Western Cape's matric class of 2007 has done us proud, again.

Despite a three percent drop in our matric pass rate for the Western Cape, there is much to celebrate. We should celebrate the fact that:
* 80.6% of our learners who wrote matric passed this year
* the Western Cape has again performed well and we are the top-performing province in South Africa;
* the quality of our passes are improving with more learners passing with subjects, like Science, which are relevant to the economy of the province and,
* the gap between historically advantaged and disadvantaged learners, in the main, is closing.

We must also celebrate the top achievers:
* those learners who have dedicated themselves not only to passing, but to achieving the best they are capable of
* the top 100 learners in the Western Cape
* those who swelled the ranks of the part-time matriculants who returned to school and wrote successfully despite previous failures and
* those thousands of matriculants who passed despite a 30 day strike and the subsequent haggling about payment for implementing the recovery plan.

This was a monumental achievement by our learners, teachers and officials. Whatever our viewpoints of the correctness of strikes in a sensitive area like education, it remains a democratic right to strike by teachers. The impact of the strike was greatest in Khayelitsha and this is reflected in the drop in pass rate from 76% in 2006 to 62% this year. This has interrupted the trajectory Khayelitsha was on of increased overall pass and endorsement rates.

But Zola High School in Khayelitsha illustrated that, had everyone simply gotten on board to implement the recovery plan, we could have turned matters around. Zola High, in fact, improved their pass rate from 88% in 2006 to 93% in 2007. The difference is that they embraced the recovery plan, improved on and implemented it before even knowing what the stipend would be.

Siphamandla is another school in Khayelitsha that withstood the ravage of the strike by responding with a good recovery plan. The example of an educator, Mrs Raubenheimer, stands out: she conducted extra maths classes at 07h00 before every school day for matriculants at Siphamandla.

In what has been a difficult year, I want to thank the learners and their parents for their sacrifices this year. This makes their achievements sweeter. I also want to thank those educators and officials who embraced the recovery plan and gave our children a glimpse of the future.

My advice to all matriculants is that the Western Cape will always have employment for those who have the right skills. Matric only opens the door for further skills. For those who did not do too well, please persevere and don't give up.

Enquiries:
Shado Twala, Premier's Spokesperson
Cell: 083 640 6771

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Western Cape Provincial Government
28 December 2007