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The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education congratulated the matric class of 2020 for the resilience shown during difficult circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw the academic year disrupted several times.

This comes as the class of 2020 received an overall National Senior Certificate (NSC) pass rate of 76.2%, a drop of 5.1% from that of 2019.

Committee Chairperson, Ms Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba, said: “This was business unusual for our learners. They did better than expected. The 2020 academic year saw many disruptions with the closure of schools, which in turn saw many learners having to rely on distance learning whilst others had to try and catch up at later stages.

“The committee notes the decline in the pass rate but feels that under the circumstances, this cohort of learners made us extremely proud. We would like to congratulate them, their parents, caregivers, educators and the education sector as a whole.”

The Minister of Basic Education, Ms Angie Motshekga, announced the results for the class of 2020 today. The top performing provinces are the Free State with 85.1%, followed by Gauteng with 83.3%, Western Cape with 79.9% and KwaZulu-Natal with 77.6%. The North West obtained a 76.2% pass rate, Mpumalanga 73.7%, Limpopo 68.2%, Eastern Cape 68.1% and the Northern Cape obtained 66%. This cohort obtained 36.4% bachelor passes, which is down from 36.9%, a total of 26% diploma passes, and 13.7% higher certificate passes.

Ms Mbinqo-Gigaba said: “We further note that the class of 2020 managed to obtain more distinctions than the class before it. This is indeed remarkable, keeping in mind the circumstances.”

Issued by Parliament of South Africa