SPEECH BY MINISTER DAVID MAYNIER

WESTERN CAPE MINISTER OF EDUCATION

2 February 2023

Western Cape 2022 National Senior Certificate Awards

Good morning, Premier Alan Winde, and Tracy Winde, and thank you for hosting us again this year at your lovely home.

Welcome to our principals, and our teachers, and our parents, and our colleagues, and our supporters.

And a special welcome to our top achievers of the Western Cape matric Class of 2022.

This is my first National Senior Certificate Awards ceremony as Minister of Education, and I’m delighted to be able to share this celebration with you.

I’d like to take a moment to recognise the work of our Exams team, led by Bertram Loriston, who exemplifies grace under pressure when faced with the most challenging of situations. 

Thank you for ensuring that the largest group of candidates ever could successfully write their matric exams, even in the face of load-shedding and a massive taxi strike in Cape Town.

2022 NSC results

But, this event is not about the Department, or the Minister, or the Premier.

It is about the incredible achievements of our learners and our schools. 

The Class of 2022 as a whole has had a tough time over the past few years.

They missed so much class time during the Covid-19 pandemic.

And in their matric year had to cope with load-shedding and transport disruption.

But, at the same time, our candidates, teachers and districts put an incredible amount of effort into preparing for the matric exams.

So, despite the challenges, our pass rate increased to 81.4%, while at the same time achieving a retention rate of nearly 70%, resulting in 49 102 candidates passing their matric exams.

Every single one of our successful candidates received a matric pass that makes them eligible to apply to universities or colleges.

Which means that we have extended opportunity to nearly 50 000 young people in the Western Cape.

When it comes to district performance:

Metro North topped the district log with 85.46% – congratulations to Director Wendy Horn and your team!

Metro Central, Metro East, Cape Winelands and Overberg districts all increased their pass rates this year.

In fact, every one of our districts scored above 77% in the matric exams, so we congratulate all of our district office teams!

On school performance per quintile:

Our quintile 1 schools raised their pass rate by 2 percentage points to 70.8%, beating quintile 2 schools.

And our quintile 3 schools also increased their pass rate by 0.3 percentage points, to 76.1%.

These schools are rapidly closing the gap with higher quintiles.

We are also delighted that the number of underperforming schools –that have achieved below 60% in the exams – has declined this year, from 38 in 2021, to 30 in 2022.

And of course, there was even more good news when the national minister announced the top candidates in the country:

Five Western Cape candidates ranked amongst the best and the brightest in South Africa.

• Kelly Prowse from Rustenberg Girls’ High School was recognised as the top candidate in Quintile 5, the top candidate in Mathematics, and the joint top candidate in the entire country!

• Simone Louw from Bloemhof High School ranked second in Quintile 5, while Kenneth Janson from Hoer Jongenskool Paarl was third in the same category.

• Athenkosi Khonzani from the Centre of Science and Technology was awarded second place in the Quintile 3 category.

• And Jason de Villiers from Rondebosch Boys’ High was the second placed candidate in Mathematics.

Congratulations to each of you on your outstanding achievements!

It’s worth noting that the top overall candidate in the country has come from the Western Cape in five of the past six years.

And the top candidate in Mathematics has come from our province for the past four years in a row.

Against all odds

The Class of 2022 has demonstrated incredible grit, and gave their all, putting in hundreds of extra hours of work, and investing in their own futures.

We must also recognise the outstanding efforts of our teachers, who have been doing the hard work of getting our learners back on track after the pandemic.

To our officials, who supported our schools and helped facilitate Winter school and Spring school and extra tutoring and online support – thank you for the work that you do every day, which often goes unrecognized.

And to the other important team members – our parents. We know that a school will succeed when you have actively involved parents. And when parents stand ready to support their child’s learning, that child excels.

So congratulations to the Class of 2022 for overcoming the odds, because that is exactly what you did, with the support of your teachers and parents.

WCED is overcoming the odds

Just as the Class of 2022 has overcome the odds, so too has the Western Cape Education Department.

We have taken so many big and bold steps under the leadership of Brent Walters over the past year, including:

• Taking decisive steps to reverse the learning losses in the Foundation Phase;

• Aiming to deliver up to 26 000 new places in our schools through our rapid school build programme, including building a junior high school in just 65 days;

• Employing up to 1 143 additional teachers;

• Offering permanent posts to up to 500 qualified Grade R teachers; and

• Increasing our budget by a massive R6.2 billion over the medium term.

But while today is one of celebration, we know that we have two major challenges that we must overcome this year:

Firstly, we are going to need to strengthen our interventions to deal with the devastating learning losses caused by the pandemic.

We are already making progress, but we cannot stop now, and we cannot wait for the someone else to lead the recovery.

Secondly, we need to expand access to schools by ramping up our rapid school build programme.

We cannot say that a child is receiving quality education if:

• There are too many learners in a class,

• There are too few teachers in a school, and

• There are too few schools in our province.

We must, and we will, overcome these tough challenges, so that we can bring hope by delivering on our vision of quality education

• For every learner,

• In every classroom,

• In every school

• in the Western Cape.

Thank you.

***

NATIONAL SENIOR CERTIFICATE (NSC) AWARDS FOR 2022

AWARDS TO SCHOOLS

In the first category, schools are awarded in terms of Improvement in pass rate, greatest increase in the percentage of candidates achieving access to Bachelor’s degree studies, improvement and excellence in individual subjects and excellence in academic performance.

In the second category, awards are made to all public, independent and Technical Schools that achieve excellence in academic performance.

All schools will receive a certificate. 

CATEGORY 1: MOST IMPROVED SCHOOLS

1A. MOST IMPROVED PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Awards will be made to ten (10) public schools with 30 or more candidates that have shown the greatest improvement in pass rate over the period 2020 to 2022. The criteria also include consistency in the number of Grade 12 candidates over the 3-year period from 2020 to 2022.

 1B MOST IMPROVED TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL

1C. GREATEST INCREASE IN THE PERCENTAGE OF BACHELOR’S PASSES  

Awards will be made to ten (10) schools with 30 or more candidates that have shown the greatest increase in the percentage of candidates achieving access to Bachelor’s degree studies over the period 2020 to 2022. The criteria also include consistency in number of Grade 12 candidates over the 3-year period from 2020 to 2022. 

1D. IMPROVEMENT AND EXCELLENCE IN INDIVIDUAL SUBJECTS

Improvement 

For Mathematics, this is awarded to ONE school in the province that obtained the highest score when combining the following:  change in percentage of candidates in the cohort taking Mathematics, the change in the pass rate for Mathematics, the change in the subject average for Mathematics and the change in the number of candidates taking Mathematics. Minimum enrolment of 30 candidates is required.

The same criteria applied for improvement in Physical Sciences

For Home languages, this is awarded to ONE school in the province that showed the greatest improvement in the average for English Home Language, Afrikaans Home Language and Xhosa Home Language in 2022, compared to their subject average in 2021. Minimum enrolment of 30 candidates is required.

Excellence

For Mathematics and Physical Sciences, this is awarded to ONE school in the province that obtained the highest score when combining the following:  percentage of candidates in the cohort taking Mathematics and Physical Sciences, the pass rate for Mathematics and Physical Sciences, the subject average for Mathematics and Physical Sciences and the number of candidates taking Mathematics and Physical Sciences. (Weighting the same for all four criteria)

For Excellence in Home languages, this is awarded to ONE school in the province that produced the highest pass rate in English Home Language, Afrikaans Home Language and Xhosa Home Language in 2022 and had the highest average in English Home Language, Afrikaans Home Language and Xhosa Home Language in 2022. (Weighting of 50% for each of the two criteria).

CATEGORY 2 - EXCELLENCE IN ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE 

In this category, awards are presented to the top three Technical Schools, the top three schools in the province with an NSC enrolment of less than 30 candidates and the top 20 schools with 30 or more candidates that have achieved excellence in academic results in 2022.

2A.   The top three Technical High Schools are:

2B. The top three schools with an NSC enrolment of less than 80 candidates are:

2C.  The top 20 schools in the province with an NSC enrolment of 80 or more candidates (including independent schools) that have achieved excellence in academic results in 2022 are:

 AWARDS TO CANDIDATES

Awards to candidates will be presented for the best performance in specified subjects, outstanding performance in the Special Needs category, Special Ministerial awards AND awards to the top 40 candidates in the province.

CATEGORY 1: Candidate Subject Awards

In this category, one award will be made to the candidate/s with the highest mark in the subject, where the highest mark is determined up to 2 decimals. Each candidate will receive R 6 000 and a certificate.

CATEGORY 2: Excellence despite barriers to learning

In this category, candidates will receive R10 000 and a certificate.

CATEGORY 3: Special Ministerial Award

CATEGORY 4: Excellent achievement across the province (including Independent Schools

This is awarded to the top 40 candidates according to the marks obtained in their best six subjects that fulfil the requirements for the award of a National Senior Certificate (two Languages, Mathematics and three other subjects excluding Life Orientation). The historical context of schools is also taken into consideration.

NOTE: The awards are presented according to surnames, except for the top 5 positions.

The top 5 positions are as follows:

Top candidate in the Western Cape

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NSC 2022

SPECIAL MINISTERIAL AWARDS 

The WCED is aware that every year there are numerous candidates who achieve excellent academic results in the face of tremendous hardship, ill health and personal obstacles.

We are, however struck by the courage and fortitude displayed by many learners, families and teachers in achieving monumental educational and life goals.

This year Minister Maynier wishes to recognise TWO learners who exemplify the exceptional courage and determination shown in achieving their success.

It is now my pleasure to call on Minister Maynier to present his special ministerial awards.

The two recipients of these rewards will each receive R10 000 and a certificate.      

2022 National Senior Certificate 

Ministerial Award

For a learner who has succeeded despite facing challenging circumstances

Awarded to

Luca Crouse

Parklands College

Our first Ministerial Award recipient was diagnosed with Apraxia of Speech at the age of 5, a speech-sound disorder that prevents him from communicating verbally, and he requires a facilitator stabilising his hand in order to write. 

Despite this, he has consistently flourished in a mainstream school, with high academic scores and a great talent for creative writing. 

His school was concerned that he might not be able to cope with the academic demands of a mainstream school when he moved on to high school.

They needn’t have worried – he continued to do well in high school, despite the challenge that the Covid-19 pandemic presented. 

When it came to the matric exams, a facilitator stabilised his hand while he wrote in very large letters, sometimes only 5 to 6 words per page, which would then be transcribed to be ready for marking. 

This resulted in him spending 5 to 6 hours in the exam venue at a time on some occasions. On days when he had an afternoon exam as well, he had no break between papers.

His courage and commitment paid off: he achieved an average of 82% with 4 distinctions.

His principal says that he is an example to us all, and she is absolutely correct.

The Ministerial Award goes to 

Luca Crouse

Parklands College

2022 National Senior Certificate

Ministerial Award

For a learner who has succeeded despite facing challenging circumstances

Awarded to

Shimé van den Bergh

Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof

Our second Ministerial Award recipient had a very difficult matric year.

Just after her June exams, severe pain in her leg resulted in an operation to remove a growth, and she had to wear a brace the full length of her leg. 

Unfortunately, the pain continued and worsened, and she underwent a second surgery to remove a growth. The operations involved transplanting the fibula in her calf into her thigh to replace the bone loss. 

After a long hospital stay and recovery at home, and just three days before the start of the final exams, she received devastating news: she had bone cancer. 

She was told that she would not be able to write her final exams, but she would not let that stop her.

Not only did she write them, she scored an amazing 7 As and a 91.3% average – something that would be an incredible achievement even in the very best of circumstances!

Her grade head says that she serves as an inspiration and role model to all people who, despite their limiting circumstances, rise above them and excel. 

I could not agree more.

The Ministerial Award goes to 

Shimé van den Bergh

Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof

***

ENDS

Issued by Kerry Mauchline – Spokesperson to Western Cape Minister of Education, David Maynier, 2 February 2023