The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education has applauded the class of 2023 for the highest National Senior Certificate (NSC) pass rate since the dawn of democracy, with Free State taking the top honours with an 89% pass rate.

Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga released the matric results on Thursday, in Johannesburg, announcing a record-high overall pass rate of 82.9%.

Committee chairperson Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba said this was an improvement of 2.8% compared with the class of 2022, which managed an 80.1% pass rate.

“The class of 2023 has made us proud. They have managed to outperform all other matric classes in democratic South Africa. They deserve all the praise heaped upon them,” said Mbinqo-Gigaba.

A total of 723 971 full-time, 129 064 part-time and 53 217 candidates sat for the NSC examinations at 6 337 public schools and 552 independent centres.

The provincial performance saw KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) with a pass rate of 86.4% and Gauteng with 85.4%, North West with a pass rate of 81.6%, Western Cape with 81.5% and Eastern Cape with 81.4%.

The remaining three provinces that managed to achieve pass rates in the 70% range are Limpopo with 79.5%, Mpumalanga 76.9 and Northern Cape 75.8%.

GOOD secretary-general and MP Brett Herron noted that the improved pass rate was encouraging, as is the fact that all provinces showed an increase in their pass rate.

“We further encourage those who were not successful to persist and complete their basic education. The greatest threat to our human and economic progress is an education system that fails to prepare young people for the future world of work,” said Herron.

The party said while it applauded all of those who were successful and wished them well on the next steps of their life journey as young adults in a competitive and difficult world, it implored the country’s education department to improve the quality of its education and the standards of schooling infrastructure.

GOOD also called for an overhaul of education so that completing basic education was “the dawn of opportunity” for all successful learners and not a “dead-end for some”.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said the unprecedented success achieved by the class of 2023 is evidence of the determination and ambition of learners and of a nation that values its youth.

“The class of 2023 has given itself and the nation great cause for pride and belief that our investment in education is the key to moving our country forward. The 2023 matric results show that we are a nation that takes care of its young people and that our young people are taking care of their future through their resilience and their dedication to learning,” he said.

He added that the results are an "irrefutable indicator" of the country’s comprehensive national development during 30 years of freedom and democracy.

CONCERNS IN MATRIC PASS RATE

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) disputed the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE's) pass rate of 82.9%, claiming that the real matric pass rate is only 55.3%, an increase from last year’s 54.6%.

“The real matric pass rate is calculated by bringing into account the number of learners that dropped out and never made it to matric. While some learners pursue their matric through technical and vocational education and training (TVET) after grade 9, a large number drop out completely. To bring the TVET learners into account, the DA calculates the real matric pass rate from the grade 10 cohort that ought to have completed matric. 345 626 learners dropped out between grade 10 in 2021 and grade 12 in 2023” explained DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education Baxolile Nodada.

DA KZN spokesperson on education Dr Imran Keeka noted that the results released by Motshekga showed that KZN had achieved a pass rate of 86.3% - an increase of 3.3% on the previous year.

“While the DA acknowledges this, we do not believe that it is a true reflection of KZN’s 2023 matric results - a figure which should be based on the 2023 matric cohort including the drop-out rate since Grade 10, and which we will reveal in the coming days,” said Keeka.

He explained that while having a matric qualification remains significant, the devastating reality is that there is a severe lack of job opportunities in KZN – a direct result of the province’s “Taliban faction” of the African National Congress (ANC) government. He added that this was a brutal blow as the cost of living continued to rise.

Keeka said the matric results for the class of 2023 were not a true reflection of the state of education in KZN.

“The reality is that our country and our province’s education system have been systematically destroyed by an ANC that does not care.”

ActionSA president Herman Mashaba said his party remained concerned that the South African schooling system did not adequately prepare youth for South Africa’s economy.

“While the Independent Examinations Board achieved a pass rate of 98.6%, the DBE achieved a pass rate of 82.9% for the NSC examinations amid a high dropout rate for pupils starting at Grade 9. Bachelor’s passes, or the number of matriculants who qualify to study a university degree, continues to lag drastically behind those who did not achieve a bachelor’s pass, highlighting that most matriculants will not be able to study at a university by passing the NSC,” said Mashaba.

He noted that many young South Africans were unfortunately facing a daunting future with great uncertainty, where they faced a 58% youth unemployment rate.

Post-matric opportunities are scarce, nor was there sufficient funding for tertiary education, Mashaba explained.

He said the DBE continued to fail in its fundamental mandate of empowering students with the skills necessary to pursue their dreams.