East London: The Eastern Cape’s Class of 2024 has set a new record, boosting the province’s overall pass rate by 3.56 percentage points. This year’s matriculants achieved an 84.9% pass rate, marking a significant improvement from 81.4% in 2023.
According to South African Government News Agency, over the term from 2019 to 2024, there has been a 4.17% increase in pass rates, moving from 76.5% to 84.9%. The Eastern Cape has produced 352,524 passes from 2020 to 2024. The provincial education department, led by Eastern Cape Education MEC Fundile Gade and Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube, announced the results at the International Convention Centre in East London.
MEC Gade highlighted the Class of 2024 as a pivotal period in the Eastern Cape’s learner performance. The improvements include average pass rates, bachelor passes, subject pass marks, and performance by examination centers. The year 2024 also saw enhanced quality of school-based assessments submitted to Umalusi, which contributed significantly to the results.
The number of Bachelor passes rose by 6.1% from 39.6% in 2023 to 45.7% in 2024, translating to 45,662 of the 99,739 learners achieving a Bachelor pass. Distinctions also increased from 29,064 in 2020 to 35,640 in 2024. Yearly improvements in distinctions have grown from 4.2% in 2023 to 5% in 2024, reflecting the quality of passes across subjects.
Subject performance improved across 30 of the 56 subjects written, with Mathematics, Physics, and History showing significant progress. District performance also improved, with 11 districts performing above 80%, and only one district remaining in the upper 70%. Six additional districts met the 80% benchmark compared to 2023.
Tragically, five candidates were raped while preparing for examinations. Despite this, they all insisted on writing the exams and obtained Bachelor passes. MEC Gade praised their resilience and congratulated them during the ceremony.
Minister Gwarube commended the Eastern Cape for its achievements, noting that no province in the country scored below 84%. She attributed the success to years of investment and hard work by previous leaders, emphasizing the importance of building on past efforts to achieve these results.