Southern suburbs schools shine in matric exams

Southern suburbs schools weathered the Covid-19 pandemic and rolling power cuts to produce top performances in the matric results.

Rustenburg Girls' High School had 100% pass rate, and Kelly Prowse was the top matriculant in the country with a 97% aggregate, eight distinctions and 100% for maths.

Cannons Creek held onto the 100%pass rate it has maintained since it opened in 1999.

“The last three years were under pandemic conditions, yet despite that, the matrics worked hard to overcome that challenge,” said Angus Morton, the school’s new principal.

Hannah Lewis, with an 89.7% aggregate, and Ebrahim Slamang, with 86.1%, were the top achievers and each scored seven distinctions.

Herschel Girls had a 100% pass rate with 12 pupils scoring aggregates over 90%. Juliette Roux (95.8%), Amelia Oppelt (94.8%) and Sofia Angeliniadis (94.3%) were the top achievers.

“It is our hope that these young women will continue to advocate, develop, learn and grow as they determine the next chapters in their lives,” said principal Heather Goedeke.

Rondebosch Boys’ High school had a 100% pass rate for the 15th year in a row. Jason de Villiers (97.3%), Taahir Parker (95.6%) and Michael Smith (94.8%) were the top achievers. Jason came third in the country for maths with a 100% pass.

The results represented the culmination of years of focus and hard work by the boys and their teachers, said principal Shaun Simpson.

Bishops, SACS, Michael Oak Waldorf School, Star College Cape Town and Westerford High School maintained their 100% pass rates while St Joseph’s Marist College, St George’s Grammar School and Rosebank Progress College scored 100% passes after narrowly missing out last year.

Schools that narrowly missed the 100% pass are Claremont High (98.9%), Islamia College (99.3%), Pinelands High (98.9%), Livingstone High (97.6%), Sans Souci Girls High (97.5%), Trafalgar High (97.4%), Vista Nova (96.7%) and Windsor High (93%).

The National Senior Certificate (NSC) results for the Western Cape were released on Friday January 20. The province had an 81.4% pass rate, up from last year’s 81.2% and came fourth behind the Free State with 88.5%, Gauteng with 84.4% and KwaZulu-Natal with 83.8%.

More than 49 000 candidates passed, the largest number of successful candidates the province has ever had, according to Education MEC David Maynier.

It was an extraordinary achievement in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and disruptions during the exam period, he said.

“This class was one of the last to go back to school in 2020 and were not at school every day during 2021. Their curriculum was trimmed for three years, but the matric exams tested the full content. And they did not have any exam practice in Grade 10 and 11.

“They have struggled with the ongoing challenge of load shedding. While we were able to conduct all of our exams successfully despite the power cuts, they left many learners in the dark in the evenings when they needed to study, and candidates in Cape Town had the added disruption of a major taxi strike during their exams. Due to the extraordinary efforts of our schools, parents, and learners, our candidates were all able to write their exams during the strike.”

Mr Maynier praised the matriculants for persevering and having an unbeatable spirit, and he thanked everyone who had supported them, including teachers, parents and district offices.