Badplaas - Mpumalanga education authorities have hailed the success of the 2011 matrics who produced a pass rate of 64.8% - an 8% improvement on the 2010 results.
Education MEC Reginah Mhaule announced the results at a glittering ceremony held in Badplaas on Thursday morning.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the class of 2011 managed to obtain an overall pass rate of 64.8%, which is an improvement from the 56.8% of 2010 and a 16.9% improvement since 2009," said Mhaule.
The MEC said the province was no longer the worst performer in the country.
"In the last couple of years, we became the worst performing province in the country, but the class of 2011 has made us proud. We have managed to beat Limpopo and the Eastern Cape who achieved a 63.9% and 58.1% pass rate respectively," she said.
Mhaule said the 2011 results, coupled with consistency in improvement, would help the province achieve their set target of a 70% pass rate before 2014.
"We only have a shortfall of 5.2% to meet this target. Working together, we can make it," she said.
The MEC attributed the province's achievement to schools who initiated and implemented improvement programmes on their own.
"They offered morning and afternoon classes, worked over school holidays and weekends, with the quest of making the outcome of the class of 2011 a better one. With these results, I believe it has paid off for those schools.
"I wish to urge other schools that have not yet started to emulate their counterparts. It is such levels of commitment that will improve the profile and standing of the province," added Mhaule.
She said the number of schools obtaining a 100% pass rate in the province have improved from 12 in 2010 to 18 schools in 2011.
"It is also encouraging that a number of previously disadvantaged schools that produce the 90% margin are also increasing. In 2011, there are 73 quintile one to three schools obtaining pass rates above 80% as compared to 40 schools in 2010," she said.
The Eastern Cape achieved the lowest pass rate with 58.1%, down from 58.3% in 2010; followed by Limpopo at 63.9%. The Northern Cape achieved a 68.8% pass rate, down from 72.3% achieved in 2010 while KwaZulu-Natal achieved 68.1%, down from 70.7% in 2010, showing a decline of 2.6%.
The Western Cape registered the highest pass rate with 82.9%, followed by Gauteng with 81.1%. North West came third at 77.8% while Free State recorded 75.7%.
