Media Release
Minister of Education Debbie Schäfer
Western Cape

6 January, 2016

MEC Schafer celebrates today with improved schools in Mfuleni and Mitchells Plain.

Statement by Minister Debbie Schäfer, Minister of Education

More than 53 000 candidates flocked to schools in the Western Cape from 12 noon today to collect their results for the 2015 NSC examinations.

Last night, at an awards ceremony, the National Minister announced the Western Cape as the top province in the Country, with a percentage pass rate of 84.7%. The national pass rate was 70.7%.

The Western Cape Province is also the only Province to increase its pass rate in the 2015 NSC exams.

We are also pleased to have increased our Bachelor Pass rate from 38.8% to 41.7% this year.

Given these results, I am sure that there will be many pleased candidates and parents, as well as teachers and principals, whose candidates and schools have performed well this year.

I would like to congratulate all these candidates and schools for their results. We are all proud of what they have achieved.

I have had a brief opportunity, amongst all the excitement, to analyse the results and have seen some wonderful examples of success in our districts and schools this year.

I am very proud that the Western Cape is the only province where all education districts have achieved a pass rate of over 80%, with half of the districts achieving over 85%.

I am aware of a number of additional and innovative support measures that were provided to our Grade 12 candidates by our Districts throughout the 2015 school year and am therefore delighted that their efforts appear to have paid off.

The Overberg and West Coast Districts achieved 89.74% and 88.93% respectively, which placed them in the top five districts in the Country and once again in the top two in the Province. In this regard, I would like to congratulate District Directors, Mr Bertram Loriston and Mr Jannie Beukes.

Metro Central also improved significantly, with an increase from 82.23% in 2014 to 87.58% in 2015, with a very impressive Bachelor pass rate of 50.98%.

A special mention, however, must be made to the Metropole North District, which I visited this morning.

Metro North is an area in our province that has experienced massive growth over the last couple of years, in line with general population trends.

In 2015, 10 544 learners from Metro North District entered the NSC examinations. I am proud that despite many unforeseen challenges in the District last year, they managed to achieve an 84.48% pass rate, with 8 501 learners passing. This is the highest number of 'passed' candidates from any district in the Western Cape.

I must congratulate District Director Dr Heinie Brand and his team. They worked around the clock and over weekends running various study programmes to ensure that their learners were not affected by circumstances within their community and that they were able to focus on their examinations.

Dr Brand attributes his success to running a number of holiday and afterschool camps and programmes. The District also arranged tutoring in the subjects of maths and science by experts in the field, as well as lecturers from universities. As a result the District managed to achieve over one hundred additional A's in each subject.

Dr Brand also said that there is a strong spirit of camaraderie among district officials, principals and schools.

In addition to the achievements of our Districts, I would like to mention some of the achievements of our schools.

Today, I visited Mfuleni High School in Metro North District to celebrate with learners and educators.

Despite seeing a large growth in numbers writing the 2015 NSC from 168 learners in 2014 to 225 learners in 2015, the school managed to achieve a 79.6% pass rate, up from 50.6% in 2014 - an increase of 29%. This is a remarkable achievement and my heartiest congratulations go to the school principal, Mr Mlotywa, the Educators at the school, school circuit team manager, Ms Qondisa Mapungu

Mr Mlotywa said 'I am so so proud of my learners. To achieve this outstanding pass rate, we have involved the parents from the get go, we have clamped down on absenteeism and we have also run a number of after school and holiday programmes.

Another special mention must be made of the schools in Mitchells Plain.

10 out of 16 schools in the Mitchells Plain area saw increases in the numbers of learners passing, as well as increases in the pass rate. Mitchells Plain schools' average pass rate increased by nearly 10%. In 2014 they achieved an average pass rate of 76.32% and in 2015 achieved an 85% pass rate. This improvement is to be congratulated.

District Director, Mr Glen Van Harte said 'This is as a result of an increase in focus on support to learners needing concentrated support. We have spent large amounts of resources in supporting progressed learners as well as border line cases during the course of 2015. This strategy has proved to be successful and will continue in this way in 2016. We have established a centre in the heart of Mitchells Plain called the Khanya Centre which will act as a full time support centre to Grade 12's and Grade 11's.'

This morning I also visited Lentegeur High School in Mitchells Plain to congratulate the school principal, Mr Frieslaar on achieving an 84.3% pass rate, up 15.6% percentage points from 2014. In addition to this, the quality of passes has improved as is seen by the increase in the bachelor passes at the school. They also saw a growth in learner numbers.

School Principal, Mr Frieslaar said 'Our achievements are as a result of a hard working staff component which includes educators and district officials. Parental support has been pivotal to our improvement in results.'

He also said 'Learners at our school are committed to their education and worked hard to improve their results. I am over the moon with my learners results.'

There are similar increases at other schools around the Province, which I cannot mention now but which I wish to congratulate. These schools have managed to substantially increase their pass rate, while ensuring that an increased number of learners entered and wrote the NSC.

Some examples include:

I would like to congratulate all these schools for their achievements in the 2015 NSC.

Media enquiries:
Jessica Shelver
Spokesperson for the Minister of Education, Debbie Schäfer
Western Cape Education Department
Tel: 076 175 0663