ANC congratulates province’s matrics, but criticises MEC for ‘fighting wrong battles’

THE ANC in the Western Cape congratulates all the pupils who successfully completed their matric in 2019. We congratulate the Department of Basic Education for an ever-improving matric results outcome, with a 3% increase in the 2019 results to 81,3%.

The valiant efforts of our government, including no-fee schools and free meals at school, which benefit over 9 million learners, are paying great dividends.

We congratulate all Western Cape pupils for their remarkable achievement, particularly obtaining the highest number of distinctions and second-highest number of Bachelor passes.

We also congratulate our schools for being second in registering the most schools with a 100% pass countrywide. These are remarkable strides, especially for our rural schools.

We are, however, concerned by the continued decline in the overall pass rate of learners in our province, pushing us to fourth place out of nine provinces. In 2017, Western Cape had a decline of 3% to 82.7%, and the 2019 results show an even further decline to 82.3%. We are leaving many children behind.

Our MEC for Education has not covered herself in glory in the last three years, championing frivolous pursuits like the sale of alcohol on school premises and challenging the national Education Department for making South African history compulsory in our classrooms.

Her focus on fighting the wrong battles shifts her away from focusing on how to regain our competitive edge, particularly in our matric results outcome.

With her at the helm, our decline is only going to get worse.

As the ANC, we will continue to look into the school results to see whether the schools previously identified as struggling are showing any improvements, so that more interventions can be made where necessary and that no child is left behind.

This is our commitment to all. We also urge those who sat for their matric examinations and did not make it not to give up.

RONALDA NALUMANGO | Interim provincial co-ordinator, ANC Western Cape