The number of school leavers who gained matric exemption rose to nearly 20% in 2009, though the overall matric pass rate continued to decline with four out of ten failing their final exam.

Education DG Duncan Hindle said that 19,8% of the 551 940 students who sat the exam could proceed to university, compared with 18% last year.

He corrected earlier information from the department which said that bachelor passes had risen from 18% to 32%.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said on Thursday that the increase in matric exemptions was one of the "positive gains" of the 2009 results.

"This means that there is a greater number of learners who will be eligible to access higher education," Motshekga said in Pretoria.

Motshekga blamed poor teaching and management in schools for the disappointing national pass rate of 60,7%, down from 62,5% in 2008 and 65,2% in 2007.

She said poor teaching was widespread, and singled out science as a subject needing urgent attention.

In the Western Cape, only 52,9% of matrics passed science compared with 71,2% in 2008.

However, Motshekga said that she was heartened by the fact that more pupils were registered for mathematics.

Despite an overall decline in the pass rate, some 417 schools achieved a 100% pass rate across the country.

Twenty-three fell into quintile one schools - under-resourced schools classified in the lowest poverty ranking.

KwaZulu-Natal improved its pass rate by 3,5%, from 57,6% in 2008 to 61,1% in 2009, while the Eastern Cape stabilised at 50%.

Motshekga praised the two provinces for managing "to buck the downward trend of the past years and... turn around."

Mpumalanga, which also published its results on Thursday after doubts it would be able to, due to a leaked exam paper scandal, had the poorest performance with a pass rate of 45,9%, a decline of 3,9%.

In Gauteng the pass rate fell from 76,4% in 2008 to 71,8%, a sharp decline which provincial education MEC Barbara Creecy described as "sobering". She urged teachers and pupils to do better this year.

The Western Cape also failed to halt a downward slide that has taken it from 85% in 2004 to 75,7% in 2009.

The pass rate in the Free State declined to 69,4% from 71,8% in 2008, while the North West went down from 68% to 67,5%.

Limpopo also saw a decline from 54,3% to 48.9%.

The Northern Cape had a significant drop of 11% with 61,3%, compared with 72,7% in 2008.

Motshekga said the education system continued to be plagued by "obvious weaknesses" that act as barriers to pupils' performance.

"We must intensify our efforts to address these weaknesses."

She congratulated matriculants who performed well and passed, and urged those who failed to try again.

"Try again... There is always a second chance. Make use of those chances. We do not always succeed the first time around."

Supplementary examinations would take place in March.