Grahamstown public school pass rate drops 9.3%

The matric results for the class of 2009 which were released by the education department on Thursday show that the performance of public schools in Grahamstown has dropped by 9.3% when compared to the previous year.

The matric results for the class of 2009 which were released by the education department on Thursday show that the performance of public schools in Grahamstown has dropped by 9.3% when compared to the previous year.

The overall pass rate of schools in the Grahamstown district is 57.3% and is a drop from the 66.6% which was obtained in 2008. While former Model C schools continued to do well, the decline in the pass rate could be attributed to historically disadvantaged (HD) schools whose performance was poor.

All but two HD schools’ pass rates dropped by more than 7% while Nathaniel Nyaluza Secondary School dropped a staggering 50.8% to hit an alltime low of 9.6% from the 60,4 the school obtained in 2008. Khutliso Daniels Secondary School obtained 10.8% (7.8% drop), Nombulelo Secondary School obtained 37.2% (27.5% drop), Ntsika Secondary School obtained 36,1 (9.2% drop) and TEM Mrwetyana obtained 46.4% (31.4% drop).

Victoria Girls’ High School and Hoerskool PJ Olivier continued to excell as each school maintained their 100% pass rate they achieved in 2008, while Graeme College dropped by almost 3% to achieve a 97.1% pass rate.  

Graeme College headmaster Peter Reed said, "Graeme College is satisfied with the results produced by the 2009 matriculants which are as expected. Of the 68 candidates who wrote the exams 66 passed, with Rubert Fitchet emerging as our top student. Forty-five candidates qualified for admission to Bachelor’s degree courses and the remaining qualified for diploma studies."

Eastern Cape education MEC Mahlubandile Qwase said: “We are pleased with the performance in all our clusters [regions]. The districts that were below 29% are now over 35%."

Qwase told Grocott’s Mail that the department has developed a plan for 2010 which is called the Learner Improvement Strategy. "The master plan will deal with what is happening in the schools," he explained. "We will focus on the challenges faced by learners and teachers."

Meanwhile, private schools maintained their consistent performance as Kingswood College, Diocesan School for Girls and St Andrew’s College each achieved a 100% pass rate. Kingswood headmaster Jon Trafford said that he was delighted with the results. "I’m especially thrilled with how well the broad range of our matrics have done, with 70% of the papers written by our pupils at the top end of the academic ratings."

Makana Youth Council chairperson Lungile Klaas congratulated the learners who passed and encouraged those who failed to try again. "You guys have done us proud as young people and we say go out there and fulfill your dreams. There are wonderful opportunities awaiting you."

 Related: Top marks for VG matriculant