Hundreds of far south pupils celebrated the end of their school career on Wednesday January 8 as they received their National Senior Certificate (NSC) results.
The Western Cape’s pass rate was 82.3%, up from 81.5% in 2018.
Ocean View Secondary School’s pass rate rose 1.6% from 75.7% in 2018 to 77.3% in 2019.
Masiphumelele High School’s pass rate jumped 8.8% from 57.5% in 2018 to 66.3% for 2019.
Fish Hoek High School’s pass rate dropped by 1.2% from 99.5% for 2018 to 98.3% for 2019, while Simon’s Town School dropped 6.2% from 93.9% in 2018 to 87.7% in 2019 and Muizenberg High School’s pass rate dropped by 1.1% from 88.6% in 2018 to 87.5% in 2019.
Education MEC, Debbie Schäfer, congratulated the matriculants and said she was very pleased with the performance of the Western Cape, especially given what she described as the difficulties the province faced with inadequate funding and safety concerns.
The province had the top-three candidates in the country and the top two in maths.
Fish Hoek High School principal, Gavin Fish, said the school had been a scene of celebration last Wednesday.
The school, he said, had achieved 17 A aggregates and was waiting to hear which of its pupils had made it to the provincial top-10 subject-achievers’ lists and placement in the southern metropole’s top 20. “There is a sense of deep satisfaction and pride in the matric passes achieved by some of our pupils who have overcome significant disadvantages from a range of social ills, physical and learning challenges. They are the unsung heroes whose results are a product of determination and enormous individual input from teachers,” he said.
The achievements of many Western Cape high schools with challenges greater than those of Fish Hoek High School were an inspiration to the school.
“What a privilege to work with the teenagers in the Fish Hoek community,” he said.
Muizenberg High School principal, Leonie Jacobson, said although they have experienced a slight drop in results she was thrilled with the achievements of individual pupils.
Anesu Jahura, the school’s top achiever, scored six As, and five pupils achieved about 90% for individual subjects.
Staff had worked hard throughout the year and during holidays and weekends to help pupils, she said.
“Our school is committed to create an academic environment for pupils to achieve their best and to have an opportunity to study courses of their choice. We have already engaged with Grade 11 pupils and their parents in 2019 and hope that early intervention strategies will give us an upswing result,” she said.
Masiphumelele High School principal, Nelson Mafrika, said while they had seen a sharp increase in results, he felt they could do better.
“We have not yet made the difference that we are required to make,” he said.
He said he was worried about the pupils who had failed and he and his staff would push hard this year, aiming for 70% or 80%.
He said the so-called “camp programme”, where pupils “camp out” over a weekend at school for help and extra revision had made a big difference last year.
“My staff worked 24/7 and on weekends to monitor and assist pupils, and I am grateful to them for that,” he said.
The Echo made several attempts to contact Ocean View Secondary School principal, Keith Klein, and Simon’s Town School principal, Jean Human, but they did not respond to by the time of going to print.