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Extract of Specch: MEC: MD Qwase – Grade 12 Results Release Function

Aanalysis of 2009 Results

In 2009, there were 70 622 candidates who enrolled for the National Senior Certificate Exams but 68 129 wrote. The analysis of the results for 2009 is as follows:

Subject Performance 

In the high enrollment examinable subjects, the province produced improved performances in Home Languages, for example, IsiXhosa fielded 56 089 candidates and had a 100% pass rate, English had 7 484 candidates with a 98.9% pass and Afrikaans had 4 652 with a 99.3% pass rate. However, we continue to be challenged by English First Additional Language where the pass rate dropped by 2.2%. Compared to the 2008 pass % of 91.4% the 2009 results dropped to 89.2 % and this is a serious issue as English is the medium of instruction in the majority of schools.

History proved to be one of the most improved subjects as the
8 622 candidates pass % was 68.3 %, which is an improvement of 12.2%. Disappointingly, Geography dropped from 74% in 2008 to 68.5 % in 2009. In the commercial field, Accounting once again improved by 2.7 % and the 20 461 candidates produced a 59.1% pass rate. However, Business Studies and Economics which also field a high number of candidates faltered with declines of 2.3 % and 1.5 % respectively.

In the field of Mathematics, despite concerns expressed by sectors of the public, the performance has been consistent with 2008. Mathematics results improved by 0.1 % and the pass % was 37.5%, whilst Maths Literacy recorded a 71.3 % pass which is a decline of 0.4%. The Mathematics Paper 3 involved only 707 candidates but moved up to 51.9 %, an improvement of 17.9 %. Overall, provincial performance in Mathematics and Maths Literacy can be significantly improved.

There are however, serious issues concerning the Sciences. Our killer subject for 2009 was certainly Physical Science, where 30 121 wrote and obtained a reduced passed pass rate of 28.6 %, which is a major drop of 14.8 % compared to 2008. Life Sciences also declined by 2.6 % and the pass rate here stands at 58.7 %. However, it is pleasing that Agricultural Sciences improved by 4.8 % and produced a 51.8 % pass rate, although this still requires much attention given the rural context of our province.

It is therefore clear that these statistics shall inform the Matric Intervention Programme which is part of the overall LAIS Strategy for the province. For 2010, I would like to see Subject Improvement Plans for each subject in every school in the province and these must be compiled and operationalised by 30 January 2010.

Cluster Performance

 The performance across the three Clusters for 2009 was as follows:

Compliments to Cluster A for assisting the province and improving by 4.5 % and to a lesser extent Cluster B improved by 1.1 %. Although Cluster C is the best performing cluster the drop of 1.3 % is disappointing.

1.3 District Performance

The best performing District in the province for 2009 is CRADOCK, where 873 candidates obtained a pass rate of 68 %. This is a welcome improvement of 5 % by the District and congratulations to all stakeholders in Cradock on their achievement.

The most improved district in the province for 2009 is NGCOBO, with a massive 16.2 % increase. The pass rate for 2009 was 49.2 % compared to 33.1 % in 2008.

Districts that declined significantly were Grahamstown by 9.4 % and Mt. Fletcher by 8.0%.

The lowest district pass rate was recorded by Qumbu at 35.5 %, which was also a 2.4 % decline from 2008.

1.4 Ooverall Provincial Performance

Our performance may be viewed both quantitatively and qualitatively. In 2008 the Eastern Cape Province produced a pass rate of 50.6 % for the 60 297 who wrote the first National Senior Certificate Examination based on the National Curriculum Statement. In 2009, an increased number of 68129 candidates wrote and the province obtained a pass rate of 51.0%, which is 0.4% improvement. While this increase may appear minor, it should be noted that 7 832 more candidates wrote in 2009. Moreover, it is relevant that our performance be viewed in a National context. Our understanding is that of the 9 Provinces in the country, the results of 7 declined, while only 2 showed some improvement, the Eastern Cape being one of the two. More importantly, for us this is a definite sign of some stability and I can now state with a high degree of confidence that the Eastern Cape has now turned the corner. We look forward optimistically to 2010 as we have a targeted master plan and a directed LAIS programme of action that has already been launched at this occasion.

In addition to this quantitative improvement, there has also been a qualitative output. The number of candidates qualifying for admission to a Bachelor Degree increased from 8 662 to 9 492, for Diploma courses from 11 166 to 13 883 and for Higher Certificate from 10 648 to 11 240 in 2009. Hopefully, this will add to the developing skills base of our Province.

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