by AKANI CHAUKE
JOHANNESBURG – SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa has heaped praise on young people who have passed their matric exams in the face of great hardship and adversity.
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa
The matric results released last week showed an 82,9 percent pass rate for the cohort of matriculants who sat the National Senior Certificate (NSC) exam in 2023.
This is the highest pass rate obtained since the NSC was introduced in 2008, which Ramaphosa said was a stellar achievement.
He noted that in the cohort of successful matriculants from last year were young people with disabilities, child care grant beneficiaries, learners from child-headed households, orphans, from informal settlements and from some of the poorest districts in the country.
Of the 110 top performing learners in last year’s NSC exam, 62 were social grant beneficiaries.
In 2023, matriculants who received some form of social grant together achieved more than 160 000 distinctions, and more than 200 000 others qualified for university entrance.
Learners from no-fee paying schools constituted more than 65 percent of the total bachelor passes obtained. Three of the country’s most rural provinces – Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo – contributed 59 percent of total passes with distinction.
The president said of those who have now completed their secondary education, some will go on to further their studies and others will seek employment.
“I encourage all of society to reward the achievements of the many young people who have successfully passed secondary school by making more opportunities available to them.”
Ramaphosa encouraged companies to use the Employee Tax Incentive to hire more young job-seekers, to make more training and mentorship opportunities available, and to sign up with the Youth Employment Service and other initiatives being rolled out in partnership with the government.
“For the many young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who passed matric this year, being given an opportunity to work or to study further is a way out of poverty. Let us give them hope. Let us give them a chance,” Ramaphosa said.
– CAJ News
