Class of 2020 beats the odds after Covid lockdown lost time
IT is a proud moment for the matric class of 2020 who in spite of a tumultuous year, delivered good National Senior Certificate (NSC) results.
After losing nearly the entire academic year as a result of Covid-19, last year’s matrics achieved an overall national pass rate of 76.2%.
KZN recorded 77.6% success in the NSC results, placing the province in fourth position nationally.
The results released this week placed uMkhanyakude District as the third highest in the province with an 80.6% pass rate, a result the district also achieved in 2019.
Zululand District achieved a 76.7% pass rate in 2020, a drop compared to the 79.1% achieved in the previous year.
A decline was also recorded by the King Cetshwayo District, which achieved a 74.8% pass rate this year compared with 79.3% in 2019, having climbed from 73.9% in 2018.
Despite a decline for some districts in the province, KZN MEC for Education, Kwazi Mshengu heaped praise on the class of 2020 for their resilience when the odds were stacked against them.
Of the 135 276 candidates who sat for the examinations in KZN, 104 985 have passed Grade 12.
The province achieved 51 060 Bachelor passes, 35 195 Diploma passes and 18 658 learners achieved a Higher Certificate pass.
‘This is a class of pioneers who were the first to face head-on the Covid-19 pandemic in Grade 12 and to further sit for the National Senior Certificate examination under conditions never been experienced before,’ said Mshengu.
‘This was the first cohort of Grade 12 learners who had to live under all the regulations that were imposed on us in a quest to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infections.
‘It is a class that earned the bragging rights for weathering the storm and coming out of it unscathed,’ Mshengu said.
He dedicated the 2020 NSC results to teachers and non-teaching employees who succumbed to the coronavirus complications.
The province has lost 253 teachers and 38 non-teaching staff due to Covid-19 related illnesses.