KZN BOASTS A 6.2% INCREASE FROM 2021 RESULTS

KwaZulu-Natal is the most improved province in the 2022 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination results with a 6,2% increase from the 2021 results.

The province achieved an 83% pass rate becoming the third top performing province.

Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga said the overall national pass rate is 80.1%, an improvement from the 76.4% in 2021. A total of 834 565 candidates both full- and part-time sat for the 2022 NSC examinations.

Motshekga said KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng had the most Bachelor passes of 127 968 together, an improvement of 8.7% from 2021.

According to the minister, none of the 75 districts in the country got pass rates lower than 60%.

In KZN, two districts got 80% and above while seven districts, between 70% and 79%. Ugu in the south coast took eighth position in the country’s top achieving districts with 87.2%, followed by Umkhanyakude District in northern KZN with 86.3%.

The Umgunggundlovu district recorded a 84.1% pass rate.

“We must observe that there are districts that are not performing optimally. We urge our provincial education departments to pay particular attention to these districts, and to assist them,” the minister said.

“The fact that none of our districts are performing below 60%, is a clear indication that all our districts, with an extra nudge, support and intervention, can cross the Rubicon, and perform above 70%.”

Congratulating the class of 2022, Motshekga said that in 2020 and 2021 the pupils’ resilience to sustain rising academic levels, was severely tested with the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This class was exposed to the pandemic for two consecutive years, when they were in Grade 10 in 2020, and Grade 11 in 2021,” she added.

“The class of 2022 is the first cohort to write the NSC exams, post the pandemic. Exacerbating the devastation caused by the pandemic, this class was subjected to the challenges of load shedding, and sporadic service delivery protests.”

Their success in overcoming these difficult academic and psychologically and emotionally draining years, was the manifestation of their fortitude and burning desire to improve their future prospects, the minister said.