Provincial Department of Education MEC, Kwazi Mshengu, together with KZN Premier, Sihle Zikalala, congratulated the matriculants of 2021 on a good performance, defying the odds of a very eventful year.
Both Mshenu and Zikalala were part of the official NSC Exam Results Release 2021 event held at the Anton Lembede Mathematics, Sciences and Technology Academy on Friday, 21 January. Mshengu said the class of 2021 proved to be resilient as they lost a lot of time whilst they were still in Grade 11 in preparation for their final year of schooling.
“This cohort of learners missed out on a lot of opportunities as a result of the pandemic and the July unrest. Today we are proud to say that their performance is an outstanding 76.8% and we are happy they achieved a top 10 achievement nationally.
“We had 145 school with a 100% pass rate as compared to the 140 in 2020. We have 61 856 bachelor’s passes and we are number one in the country, we had 35 240 diploma passes even though there was a drop when compared to 2020 and 61 887 distinctions also making us number one in the country. We had no schools with a 0% pass rate which makes us very proud,” said Mshengu.
He said this proves that the quality being produced is improving.
“In KZN, Ugu District took the number one spot with a pass rate of 80.4%, ranking 23rd nationally followed by Umlazi District 80.0%, Amajuba 79.7%, King Cetshwayo 77.4%, Umgungundlovu 76.4%, Harry Gwala 76%, Ilembe 75.3%, Umkhanyakude 75.3%, Pinetown 74.8%, uThukela 74.6% and lastly uMzinyathi 71.7%,” added Mshengu.
He said the people should not forget those who did not achieve positive results. “They need to be supported. We urge parents to give their children support by taking advantage of the Department’s second chance programme which will give the learners an opportunity to do better. I remember the quote: ‘The greatest glory in living is not in falling, but in rising every time we fall’ – Nelson Mandela, therefore, this is still an opportunity to make it,” Mshengu said.
He said he salutes the educators, school governing body associations, unions and school principals who worked together throughout the year, ensuring that we get these amazing results.
Premier Zikalala said the purpose of the event is to account the performance of the Class of 2021. “As provincial government we have to take the responsibility to report back full details on how the learners performed, not only Grade 12 but all classes from Grade 1.”
“To the Class of 2021, congratulations on the extraordinary performance. The Class of 2021 is very diverse in many ways and we wish to acknowledge those with special needs for the effort they put into their studies. We also have learners from rural, township and informal settlements who had to work hard in difficult situations. The Class of 2021 had to go through so much and were affected by the damages of infrastructure at a time the Department of Education went through financial constraints. It is in this regard we honour them.”
He saluted all educators for not giving up and powering on in such instances.
Zikalala said: “We convey heartfelt gratitude to the principals for their contribution to the success of the learners against all odds. It is even more exciting to see that female learners did very well this year, more than the boys and I believe that the sanitary programmes at the schools have a great impact on this and I would like to see them continue to curb the school drop-out rate which has also dropped this year. Well done to the learners and the Department for the success.”
The 2021 top achiever in the province was announced as Cade Sayner of Kingsway High School.
