IN KWAZULU-Natal (KZN) 26 schools – including Star College, Westville Girls’, Al-Falaah College, Durban Girls’ High and Orient Islamic – obtained a 100% pass rate for the past four consecutive years in the National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams.
This emerged at the release of the KZN matric results at the Durban ICC today.
KZN achieved the highest number of bachelor passes with 87.3% and an 89.5% pass rate, the highest in history, placing the province second behind the Free State. The results were an improvement from the 86.4% it achieved in 2023.
Bachelor passes increased from 72 099 in 2023 to 84 470 in 2024, diploma passes decreased from 43 769 in 2023 to 42 830 in 2024 and higher certificates also decreased from 20 435 in 2023 to 17 609 in 2024.
Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube said she was pleased to highlight that in 2014, 150 752 learners achieved Bachelor passes and in just a decade the number had more than doubled in 2024 to 337 158 Bachelor passes.
“In 2024, I am pleased to announce that KwaZulu-Natal achieved the highest number of Bachelor passes with 84 470,” said Gwarube.
KZN MEC for Education, Siphosihle Emmanuel Hlomuka, said that it was a significant day for the province as it was the first NSC results under the 7th Administration of the Provincial Government of Unity.
From the 161 962 of pupils, who wrote the 2024 NSC exam, 144 990 of them passed, with the province continuing to contribute the highest number of candidates who sit for a pass the National Senior Certificate examinations in the country.
The number of schools that obtained a 100% pass rate also increased from 246 in 2023 to 321 in 2024.
The province was also able to reduce the number of schools that performed below 75% from 288 in 2023 to 182 in 2024.
“We are proud to report that no school in this province obtained a 0% pass rate. Our interventions to eradicate the 40% and below category of performance in the 2024 National Senior Certificate exams are yielding results and we will continue to put more efforts towards addressing this bracket,” said Hlomuka.
KwaZulu-Natal is the most improved province in the country, and also has the most improved district nationally with uMkhanyakude.
All 12 districts performed above 80% with the most improved district being King Cetshwayo at 88.6% from 83.4% in 2023.
However, even with the great results the department highlights that they want to see an improvement in English First Additional Language, Mathematics and all science subjects.
“Our learners also performed exceptionally well in languages, such as IsiXhosa, IsiZulu, Afrikaans, eSotho, South African sign Language, SiSwati,” said Hlomuka.