Cape Town - Matrics in the Western Cape have reason to celebrate after achieving an impressive 82.9% pass rate for 2011, up by 6.1% compared to 2010.
The National Senior Certificate (NSC) pass rate in the province improved from 75.7% in 2009 to 76.8% in 2010.
Education MEC Donald Grant said on Wednesday night that 2011's pass rate indicated that progress was being made in improving the education outcomes of learners in the Western Cape.
"This is in stark contrast to the decline that was the case between 2004 and 2009 when the percentage pass rate steadily dropped from 85.01% to 75.7% in 2009."
He said that while the pass rate was important, it was also imperative to consider other indicators such as the quantity and quality of passes. "This gives a far better picture of the health and progress of the education system."
Grant said the province had done well as out of the over 41 000 full-time candidates who had enrolled in 2011, nearly 40 000 sat for the exams and 33 146 had passed.
He said that 68.7% of the candidates had passed maths, compared to 66.3% in 2010. In physical science, the pass rate improved from 59.6% to 65.3%, which was an increase of nearly 6%.
Grant said one of the key improvements had also been the increase in the number of schools that achieved 90% (191 compared to 174 in 2010) and schools that had achieved 80% or more (269 compared to 224 in 2010).
He noted that the number of underperforming schools had also declined.
"On behalf of the Western Cape Government, I would like to congratulate all our Grade 12 learners who took up all learning opportunities made available to them in preparation for these NSC examinations. Your hard work and commitment have paid off!"
