By: Ofentse Seanego
The Independent Examination Board (IEB) has announced a 98.39% matric pass rate for the 2021 academic year.
The pass rate slightly increased from last year’s 98.06%. IEB CEO Anne Oberholzer said all candidates who passed achieved a pass that is good enough to enter the tertiary study at one of the three levels:
89.2% of the cohort achieved entry to degree study, compared to 88.41% in 2020.
7.82% qualified for entry to diploma study, compared to 8.14% in 2020.
1.37% achieved entry for study at the Higher Certificate Level, compared to 1.5% in 2020.
Also read: IEB matric top achievers
About 12 857 full-time and 968 part-time candidates from 238 examination centres writing in 267 venues across Southern Africa wrote the 2021 examinations.
Oberholzer said the achievement resulted from many sacrifices from all involved. She said the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted the education sector over the past two years.
“As with an iceberg, the achievement we see in the class of 2021 hides the depth of the struggle and effort that underpins this success. These Grade12 learners were the true victims of COVID-19. The Class of 2021 has had to dig deep mentally and emotionally to find the strength to face the tremendous challenges of the radically changed teaching and learning environment of the last two years. They truly deserve the accolades they receive,” Oberholzer said.
She added that to understand the pandemic’s impact on the NSC learners of 2021, one needs to consider what normally happens in many schools over the final two years of Grades 11 and 12.
She said Grade 11 ensures that learners have a firm grasp and full understanding of key concepts and content in their respective subjects of study, and the first term of Grade 12 is usually spent on completing the curriculum. For the rest of the year, learners are exposed to applications of the concepts and content.
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“The journey for Grade 12 candidates of 2021 was somewhat different with school closures from as early as March 2020 and then sporadically throughout the year, continuing right through their Grade 12 year. They experienced a disruptive change of an unprecedented nature within a relatively short space of time”, she said.
“Teaching in 2020 focussed primarily on ensuring that Grade 12 learners were given as much attention as possible to ensure that they could succeed in their final examinations. Most Grade 11 learners in 2020 spent much less time at school and were essentially the test cases of the greatest online tuition experiment of our time. Despite its varied rate of success, one thing is certain – the use of technology is here to stay, as it should be,” she added.
Oberholzer further stated there’s no doubt that online learning cannot replace a good teacher in person. However, it is far better than no teacher and no guidance.
“If there is one good thing to come out of the pandemic, let it be the value that technology can bring to the classroom and particularly those children currently deprived of quality education. Authorities can no longer ignore the necessity for expanding open-access fibre cable networks to provide long-distance, high-performance data networking across the country, particularly in rural areas,” said Oberholzer.
