Garden Route schools excel in Western Cape
THE Garden Route’s class of 2016 not only exceeded the national pass rate, but also contributed to ensuring that the Western Cape became one of the top-performing provinces in the country once again.
The Eden and Central Karoo district managed an 84.7% pass rate, just short of the provincial rate of 87.7% but well above the national average of 72.5%.
Of the 46 schools in the region, eight obtained a 100% pass rate.
They were Knysna High, Ladismith High, Langenhoven Gimnasium, Oakdale Landbouskool, Outeniqua High, Sentraal High, Wittedrift High and York High.
For Knysna High and York High this was the second year in a row, while Wittedrift has managed this feat for six consecutive years .
Oakdale, in particular, had reason to celebrate after achieving a 100% pass rate for the 20th consecutive year.
“The recipe to this success is simple. It is hard work and determination,” principal Andre Latsky said.
He said that five of his pupils achieved an A-average – four of whom obtained eight distinctions.
“About 68% of our learners also managed to obtain bachelor degree passes.”
He said that as far as he knew Oakdale had the best results in agricultural technology in the country.
Wittedrift High principal Jeremy Marallich said he was extremely proud of the accomplishment.
“This is the result of a lot of hard work by a lot of people, including the learners and our teachers,” he said.
Marallich said two of the school’s pupils managed to obtain seven As and one matriculant received six distinctions.
Thirteen of the area’s schools also managed to improve on last year’s results, with the biggest growth shown by Gerrit du Plessis Secondary in Riversdale, which achieved 83.7% compared with 70.2% in 2015.
Murray High School in Knysna also showed good improvement by achieving 76.9% compared with 2015’s 66%, while Knysna Secondary managed to increase the pass rate from 79.5% to 86.6%.
Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schafer said she was proud of the results of the region and province.
“I am particularly pleased with our performance according to key quality indicators, including the percentage of candidates who qualify for bachelor degree studies, passes in mathematics and the pass rates in our poorest schools,” she said yesterday.
Shafer said she was especially delighted that the province had produced the top three pupils in the country in mathematics and the top two in mathematics and science combined.