INTRODUCTION: WE TAKE A BOW IN RESPECT OF OUR STAKEHOLDERS AND MATRIC CLASS OF 2021

We have gathered this morning as the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal and our stakeholders to account to the people of our province and our country on the performance of the 2021 matric class.

To this extra special class of 2021, we doff our hats off to congratulate you for your extraordinary achievement in 2021.

You are exceptional because you are the exemplary cohort that lived through the setback and disruption in the education system for two years with the outbreak of COVID-19 since you were in grade 11 in 2020.

The 2021 Class in our public schooling system is not monolithic, but diverse in many ways. On such a day, we wish to particularly remember the learners with special needs, learners with learning challenges, learners who are disabled. We recognise them for the extraordinary effort that they put to succeed in their studies, refusing to allow learning disabilities to stand between them and their goals and dreams. You inspire us and remind us of the tenacity of the human spirit.

We also wish to make a special mention of learners from our rural areas, townships, and informal settlements who have had to work harder without much financial and learning resources in their homes or schools.

We reiterate that the class of 2021 is distinctive and remarkable because it proved to be the tough battalion that went through the pain, trauma, and destruction of the July 2021 inferno and unrest. It was a sad and tragic moment in the history of our country and province where no less than 144 learning centres were damaged at a time where the educational budget had been slashed by R6.3 billion as part of cost containment measures.

The vandalising and targeting of schools to steal food and equipment had been on the rise with the advent of COVID-19 in 2020, and so, the July 2021 civil unrest only worsened the situation and enabled criminals to loot the future of our children. Because of the unrest, all plans for the KZN winter holiday intervention programme had to be cancelled.

It is in this regard that we truly honour the class of 2021 because we cannot think of a group that went through such disturbances and dislocation in post-apartheid South Africa.

On this day, we also wish to pay tribute to the heroes and heroines behind our great performance for 2021. To all our teachers who never spare themselves under extremely trying circumstances, we salute you for your commitment to the success and future of our children.

We cannot thank all teacher unions enough for working with us as dependable partners, coming to school on time, teaching, ensuring that our schools and learners are safe, that they adhere to COVID-19 protocols, and for encouraging teachers and society to vaccinate.

We also convey our heartfelt gratitude to the Principals and all School Management Teams for their resolute commitment to the success of our learners against all odds.

In the past two years, we have lost a number of dedicated teachers to the pandemic who put the welfare of the learners above their own safety and health concerns. We are eternally indebted to their sacrifices and we pledge to continue serving the education sector selflessly.

Allow us to also recognise all our school governing bodies who displayed stellar leadership under such difficult circumstances.

This is also a day to extol and celebrate parents and guardians who under gruelling and taxing circumstances did not give up in providing support to their children. A number of these parents were facing troubles of rising cost of living, loss of income, and going through the stress brought by the pandemic and various social ills.

WE HONOUR UBHEJANE UPHUMA ESIQIWINI

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Reflecting on the performance of the class of 2021 in KwaZulu-Natal only brings the poignant memory of our late beloved King, His Majesty King Goodwill ka Bhekuzulu who passed away on the 12th of March 2021. We recall his great role and contribution in efforts to improve the performance of the entire basic education system in KwaZulu-Natal.

His Majesty the King worked tirelessly with our Department of Education to encourage learners to do well and improve the matric pass rate. In his honour and memory, we remain resolute to improve the quality of education and to improve the performance of our learners and the entire education system.

Educationalist Professor Marry Metcalfe of the University of Johannesburg, in warning against various provinces making comparisons in the pass rates, told a national radio station on Wednesday that our province has the second highest number of students in the system after Gauteng, that we are predominantly a rural province still overcoming many of the infrastructural backlogs in the system. She went on to commend KZN for its success in ensuring that there is a reduction in learner drop outs in comparison to other provinces, some which are better resourced than ours.

THE 2021 PASS RATE, IMPROVEMENTS AND DECLINES

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Halala to the KwaZulu-Natal class of 2021 for their impressive achievement of 76.80% pass rate. In 2018, the pass rate in KZN was 76, 2%; in 2019, 81,3%; in 2020, 77, 60%. The 2021 pass rate reflects a 0.8% drop from the 2020 case. There were significant declines in the pass rate in both Umkhanyakude and Umgungundlovu while there were notable improvements in King Cetshwayo and Zululand.

• Umkhanyakude – 75.30% ( drop by 5.30 % from 80.60% in 2020)

• Umgungundlovu – 76.5% (drop by 3.8% from 80.30% in 2020)

• Ugu- 80.4% (drop by 1.30% from 81.70% in 2020)

• Ilembe- 75.7% (drop by 1.2% from 76.90 in 2020)

• Pinetown – 74.8 % (drop by 1.0% from 75.8 % in 2020)

• Umlazi – 71.70% (drop by 0.90% from 72.60% in 2020)

• Umzinyathi – 71.7% (drop by 0.9% from 72.6% in 2020)

• Amajuba – 79.7% ( drop by 0.8% from 80.5 in 2020)

• Harry Gwala – 76% (increase by 1% from 73.50% in 2020)

• Uthukela – 74.6% (increase by 1.1% from 73.5% in 2020)

• Zululand – 78.2% (increase 1.5%% from 76.7% in 2020)

• King Cetshwayo – 77.4% (increase by 2.6% from 74.8% in 2020)

ANALYSIS OF THE 2021 MATRIC RESULTS

The Department of Education in our province set itself ten important objectives in its initial academic improvement plan. These objectives were meant to guide all the interventions for the improvement of the performance of the matric class of 2021.

Only one objective was not achieved. The province wanted to improve the pass percentage in 2021. This did not happen as the province dropped by 0.8%.

The Department of Education set itself the objective of increasing the number of learners passing matric. This was viewed as a way of opening doors of learning for many more learners than in 2020. This was achieved because the total number of passes for the class of 2021 is 127 990 which is 23 054 higher than in 2020 (which stood at 104 938 then).

The other objective set by the Department was to open the doors of university entrance by increasing the total number of learners obtaining bachelor passes. In 2020 the province obtained 51 074 bachelor passes and in 2021 the province obtained 61 856 bachelor passes. This is 10 782 more bachelor passes. The province has increased the number of learners who are eligible for university studies by 3.9%.

The Department of Education stated, in its academic improvement strategy, that it wants to increase the number of learners who obtain diploma passes so that those learners also take advantage of diplomas offered in tertiary institutions of our country. This was achieved because in 2020 KwaZulu-Natal obtained 42 128 diploma passes and in 2021 the number increased to 49 042. The increase is 6 914.

The province also aimed at reducing Higher Certificate and NSC passes called “School Living Certificate” in favour of bachelor and diploma passes. This was achieved because ten out of 12 districts did not have NSC. Only two districts obtained this type of certificate.

The Province was not happy with the schools that obtained the dismal 0% in the past. As a result, the decision was to eliminate this performance category and throw it in the dustbin of history. We can report that in 2021, the province of KwaZulu-Natal did not have a school obtaining 0%.

The province set itself an objective of increasing the number of 100% schools. This was achieved because this improved from 140 in 2020 to 145 in 2021.

The province undertook to improve performance in Mathematics and Science. Mathematics improved from 51.2% in 2020 to 54.2% in 2021, i.e. 3% increase. Physical Sciences improved from 69.7% in 2020 to 71.2% in 2021 which is an increase of 1.5%.

The province sought to improve the total number of distinction passes in 2021. The results show that the province was able to improve the overall number of distinctions from 49 999 in 2020 to 61 887 in 2021.

The increase in distinctions was also evident in critical gateway subjects. In Accounting the distinctions were 1 304 in 2020 and in 2021 they increased to 1 466. In Agricultural Sciences the distinctions were 218 in 2020 and in 2021 they increased to 392. In Business Studies the distinctions were 2 022 in 2020 and in 2021 they increased to 3 353.

In Economics, distinctions were 232 in 2020 and in 2021 they increased to 289. In Life Sciences the distinctions were 1 619 in 2020 and in 2021 they increased to 2 819. In Mathematical Literacy the distinctions were 1 191 in 2020 and in 2021 they increased to 1 726. In Tourism the distinctions were

1 121 in 2020 and in 2021 they increased to 1 992.

Noting that home languages are critical for learners to comprehend and pass, the province set an objective of passing home languages with more than 90%. Afrikaans home language got a pass rate of 97.9%. English home language got a pass rate of 90.8%. IsiZulu home language got a pass rate of 99.6%. IsiXhosa home language got a pass rate of 99.7%. Sesotho home language got a pass rate of 96.6%. SiSwati home language got a pass rate of 99.2%.

The province wanted to improve the throughput of quintile 1, 2 and 3 schools. These are schools which benefit from scholar transport, school nutrition and no fee paying education. The reason why it is important to improve the throughput of these schools is to justify the use of taxpayers’ money to provide education. Out of 145 schools that obtained 100% in the province, 90 schools are quintile 1, 2 and 3. This is 62%. Out of 306 schools which obtained 90%-99% in 2021, 207 come from quintile 1, 2 and 3. This 67% of schools.

Attention to special schools was also improved. The province has worked hard to improve education of learners with learning barriers. The majority of these learners are in special schools. The province wanted to ensure that none of the special schools obtain a pass rate of less than 70%. Six special schools obtained 100% pass rate. Two special schools obtained between 95% and 96%. One special school obtained 87.5%. Another one obtained 74.1%. The province is pleased about this excellent performance because it will open the doors of further learning to learners in special schools.

It is important to mention that girl learners performed better those boy learners. Girl learners obtained an overall pass percentage of 77.1% whilst the boy learners obtained 76.1%. We believe that among others, the sanitary towel programme is able to keep girl learners at school for longer, thus having more time to focus on their work. We will continue to intervene to ensure that female learners have equal opportunities of success like male learners.

CONCLUSION

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The ANC-led government continues to make education an apex priority because we believe that it will take an educated and skilled workforce to lift our nation out of poverty and create jobs that are in demand in our modern economy.

We will continue to invest in teacher development, repairing and building new schools, providing learner transport and nutritious meals to our learners. Between 2014 and 2019, KZN delivered no less than 43 new schools throughout our province. In 2019, we delivered the Daniel Mzamo Special School at Nhlalwane at a cost of R115 million.

To take advantage of digitisation, robotics, and the fourth industrial revolution, we are paying attention to subjects like Coding, Mathematics, and Physical Science. It is for this reason that on the 15th of February last year, we launched this state-of-the-art school, the Anton Lembede Maths, Science, and Technology Academy which focuses exclusively on Maths, Science, and Technology.

Last year, we also delivered the Pholela School for Learners with special needs in Bulwer at a cost of about R220 million. On the 8th of October, we launched a revamped, brand new state of the art Pholela High School at Bulwer which cost the government no less than R91-million.

We urge communities to take a keen interest in the future of their children. Let us join hands and work with community policing forums to protect school assets and buildings from vandalism, theft and destruction.

We call on our teachers to be on time in class and to focus on teaching each day. Without our committed teachers, we cannot have any hope of improving the lives of the people of KwaZulu-Natal, and so we enjoin them to enthuse, teach, and inspire our learners.

We look to the Class of 2022 to beat the record of the class of 2021.

It would be amiss of me not to comment on the recent devastation brought about by the floods at the beginning of the 2022 calendar year. The Provincial Government, the Department of Education, and the Department of COGTA are seized with the task of ensuring that our schools are safe for learning.

Rescue efforts are continuing to find the missing 14 year old Sihle Ziqubu in the Ladysmith area. We are devastated and heartbroken, and we wish to express our full solidarity with his mother and family.

We appeal for peace throughout our province. We urge communities and our traditional leaders not to hold the future of our children at ransom. We plead that where there are disputes and disagreements, let such not affect the teaching and learning of our children in any part of the province. Sithi kusizwe nabaholi bendabuko masingazigwazi ngowethu nina beSilo.

Once again, to all the learners who passed in 2021, congratulations and best wishes as you embark on a new journey.

And to all those who did not make it, please remember that you can again utilise the department’s second opportunity programme to improve your results. Learn from the experience and do better next time. It is definitely not the end of your lifelong journey to learning and getting skilled.

God Bless the people and youth of our province!

Together Growing KwaZulu-Natal!

I thank you!