Cape Town - History has been celebrated in the Western Cape as the class of 2024 achieved a pass rate of 86.6% – a 5.1 percent point increase, achieving the highest National Senior Certificate (NSC) pass rate ever for the province.
The Bachelor pass rate, which is a crucial indicator of the quality of matric passes, also increased by 5.6 percentage points to 47.8%.
The province achieved a 78% pass rate for Mathematics and 79.4% for Physical Science, reaching the highest in the country.
The matriculants reached the second highest pass rate in the country for Learners with Special Education Needs (LSEN) at 91%, and the highest Bachelors pass rate in the country for LSEN learners at 63.3%.
Four learners from the Western Cape were invited to the celebratory breakfast with Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube in Randburg, Johannesburg on Monday, where 39 learners were recognised, including top candidate for the country, Rayyan Ebrahim from Pinelands High School.
The top candidates in Quintile 5 were:
1st place: Rayyan Ebrahim – Pinelands High School;
2nd place: Matthew Christopher Wise – Pinelands High School;
3rd place: Nicholas David Schreiber – Rondebosch Boys’ High School,
and the top candidate in South African Sign Language:
2nd place: Jordan Raubenheimer – De La Bat School.
The Cape Argus caught-up with the top learners after they returned from Johannesburg on Tuesday.
Raubenheimer, from Worcester, shared that his love for sign language came from his family, who are also deaf.
“I was very happy and terribly excited and I did not think that I would be part of the Top 3 in the country. It still feels unreal,” he said.
“I think I love sign language because my family is deaf and I use sign language every day when I communicate with my family.
“I also really love Drama and poems that are conveyed in sign language.
“Grade 12 was fun, but it was hard knowing you have to say goodbye to your friends and teachers who have been part of your life for 14 years.”
Raubenheimer said much of his success he attributed to his parents and that he felt confident in showcasing the need for inclusiveness for the deaf community. He said he planned to study IT.
Matthew Christopher Wise, 18, from Pinelands High School, which obtained a 100% pass rate, said much of their success was attributed to teaching staff.
Matthew received 92% for Further Studies Mathematics, Matrices and Graph Theory, and 93% for Calculus and Algebra.
“I would say that hard work pays off and it is thanks to my teachers for the quality of education they have provided,” he said.
He plans to pursue his degree in Statistics and Data Science at the University of Cape Town. Ebrahim said he also planned to study data science. He placed in the Top 1% of candidates for FSM Standard (Calculus and Algebra) in South Africa.
Pinelands High School principal, Graham Sayer, said he couldn’t be prouder.
Education MEC David Maynier on Tuesday visited Joe Slovo Secondary in Khayelitsha, which celebrated a pass rate of 99.3% from 87.2% in 2023.
The school said their Bachelors passes also doubled from 25.1% to 56.2%.