As the countdown is well underway for the release of the National Senior Certificate results for the Matric Class of 2023, Eastern Cape Education MEC, Fundile Gade, has expressed confidence that the province will achieve the 80 percent matric pass rate target it is aiming at.
Basic Education minister, Angie Motshekga, is expected to announce the outcome of the 2023 National Senior Certificate examinations on January 18.
The results will then be released to candidates the following day, January 19.
Speaking during a visit to St John’s College in Mthatha, which was one of the marking centres for the province, Gade said that the results from the trial examinations in September last year showed that the province was on course to achieve the ambitious 80 percent pass rate target for its Matric Class of 2023.
The Eastern Cape achieved a 77.3 percent matric pass rate for 2022, which placed the province in the number six spot nationally.
Gade says that his ambition is to see the Eastern Cape in the top five provinces when the results are announced and, according to him, achieving the 80 percent matric pass rate target will do just that.
“The achievements make me confident that our systems have matured and place us in a position to achieve the 80 percent target for the Matric Class of 2023,” said Gade.
He further said that his department’s aim was to ensure that the province improved by a minimum of five percent annually from its previous matric pass rate.
If the five percent improvement is achieved by the Matric Class of 2023, it will take the Eastern Cape matric pass rate to 82 percent compared to 77 percent achieved in 2022.
Gade said he was also pleased by the performance and number of learners who had enrolled for mathematics and science subjects, which he described as key strategic focus areas of his department.
