NEWS & ANALYSIS

The govt matric: Number crunched

The closer you look the worse the results appear (graphs and tables inc.)

JOHANNESBURG - 551,940 pupils in South Africa wrote the government matric in 2009. 334,716 (60.6%) passed. 109,697 (19.9%) passed with the grades necessary to progress on to university. 275,013 pupils wrote the basic "mathematics literacy" paper. 24.6% of pupils failed it outright, getting less than a 30% score. Only 31.2% of those who wrote the paper passed with more than a 50% score.

290,407 pupils meanwhile wrote the more challenging "mathematics" paper. 54% received less than a 30% score and failed outright. Another 16,6% received less than 40%. Only 52,779 (18.2%) of those who wrote the paper passed it with more than half marks (or just 9,5% of all those who wrote the governmentt matric.)

220,882 pupils wrote the "physical science" paper. 139,360 pupils (63.1%) received less than 30% and failed outright. A further 35,904 pupils (16,3%) received less than 40%. Only 10.1% of pupils who wrote the exam received more than 50%.

Tables and graphs follow below:

Table 1: The govt matric pass rate by province, 2009

Province

Wrote

Failed

Incomplete

Pass

% Pass

Bachelor pass

%  bachelor

EASTERN CAPE

68129

33071

2493

34731

51.0%

9492

13.9%

FREE STATE

29808

9117

654

20680

69.4%

6030

20.2%

GAUTENG

98576

27655

2692

70871

71.9%

28709

29.1%

KWAZULU-NATAL

132175

50997

7789

80733

61.1%

26287

19.9%

LIMPOPO

83350

42550

9939

40776

48.9%

10202

12.2%

MPUMALANGA

53975

27606

1757

25852

47.9%

6556

12.1%

NORTH WEST

30664

9959

731

20700

67.5%

6356

20.7%

NORTHERN CAPE

10377

4021

388

6356

61.3%

1741

16.8%

WESTERN CAPE

44886

10860

1976

34017

75.8%

14324

31.9%

NATIONAL

551940

215836

28419

334716

60.6%

109697

19.9%

 

Table 2: Results of mathematics paper, govt matric 2009

PROVINCE

FAIL < 29

PASS 30 TO 39

PASS 40 TO 49

PASS 50 TO 59

PASS 60 TO 69

PASS 70 TO 79

PASS 80 TO 100

EASTERN CAPE

27052

6992

4273

2348

1211

760

614

FREE STATE

6196

2697

1713

1126

728

414

384

GAUTENG

21066

7672

6030

4477

3308

2557

2455

KWAZULU-NATAL

40820

12845

8509

5059

3054

1986

1641

LIMPOPO

30625

7912

5046

3121

1829

1023

785

MPUMALANGA

15213

3707

2418

1479

971

583

438

NORTH WEST

6565

2503

1731

1174

771

507

433

NORTHERN CAPE

2266

723

427

258

150

102

94

WESTERN CAPE

6737

3098

2430

1994

1711

1368

1866

TOTAL

156540

48149

32577

21036

13733

9300

8710

%

54.0%

16.6%

11.2%

7.3%

4.7%

3.2%

3.0%

 

 

Table 3: Physical science results 2009 government matric

FAIL < 29

PASS 30 TO 39

PASS 40 TO 49

PASS 50 TO 59

PASS 60 TO 69

PASS 70 TO 79

PASS 80 TO 100

EASTERN CAPE

21407

4461

2492

1044

410

182

39

FREE STATE

7221

2182

1386

642

350

174

55

KWAZULU-NATAL

30616

8953

5733

2896

1382

615

221

LIMPOPO

26911

6192

3680

1657

660

287

82

MPUMALANGA

14665

2880

1737

823

346

147

46

NORTH WEST

7413

1979

1361

706

351

151

45

NORTHERN CAPE

2068

491

266

152

86

28

12

GAUTENG

22776

6596

4751

2788

1598

899

278

WESTERN CAPE

6283

2170

1784

1296

976

629

209

TOTAL

139360

35904

23190

12004

6159

3112

987

%

63.1%

16.3%

10.5%

5.4%

2.8%

1.4%

0.4%

 

Data Source: Department of Basic Education

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