SA’s matric Class of 2024 - the everyday heroes behind the setbacks-to-success story

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube announced this week that the matric Class of 2024 achieved an 87.3% pass rate, surpassing the 82.9% recorded in 2023. Every province improved its performance from the previous year, and each achieved a pass rate above 84%. 

This achievement comes against a backdrop of many hurdles that had to be cleared by committed teachers, principals, parents, community members, NGOs and education department officials.

Hubert Mathanzima Mweli, the department’s director-general, said during a briefing on 13 January that the country had never appeared this healthy in the history of education. “Out of 75 districts, 73 had a pass of 80% and above. The lowest-performing district obtained 78%,” he said.

Mweli said the Class of 2024 received extraordinary support via special programmes and there had been an increase in the number of learners who benefited from extra tuition. He said the programmes used the systems that had been developed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Department of Basic Education director-general Hubert Mathanzima Mweli. (Photo: Gallo Images)

A former principal who now works at ­Nelson Mandela University as the director of engagement, Dr Bruce Damons, said although it was good to celebrate the achievements of the matrics, there should be a critical analysis and discussion about the quality of education they are getting. 

“We must take the learnings of the past year and do some proper reporting on the quality of the education in our schools,” he said. “We have used this same metric of matric for decades, but we have to ask some difficult questions while celebrating. Do we enable our kids to face the real challenges of the world? Are our schools really fit for purpose? There is danger in measuring education by Grade 12 alone.” 

Damons agreed with Eastern Cape MEC Fundile Gade’s sentiments, expressed at the announcement of the province’s results, that there was a new generation of teachers who are putting dignity back into the teaching profession. 

“I think this is key,” he said. “But we must take a good look at what the other enabling factors are, like the involvement of parents. If this exercise is done well, it can be catalytic.”

In an analysis of the Eastern Cape’s matric results, acting head of the department Sharon Maasdorp named its “game-changers” as face-to-face classes, QR codes that could be scanned to download revision videos, on­line support and assessments, WhatsApp support groups and classes that could be listened to on the radio, among other turning points.

About a third of the Eastern Cape matric class failed in 2020. This has now been reduced to about 15%.

Gade said the Class of 2024 did not have a smooth school journey. They were in Grade 8 during the pandemic and their Grade 9 year was still interrupted as the country battled to get back to normal. Detailing the struggles of children in a violent province such as the Eastern Cape, Gade said: “The only blemish was the high number of reported criminal incidents in the communities where candidates and schools are located. 

“The [most] un­fortunate incident was that of five candidates gang-raped while preparing for their examinations in the OR Tambo District [around Mthatha]. 

“However, these kids insisted on writing despite their [trauma], and I am happy to report that they all obtained bachelor’s passes.” 

KwaZulu-Natal education MEC Sipho Hlomuka said the Class of 2024 had to overcome unprecedented challenges, from surviving a pandemic and the 2021 riots to having to learn under difficult conditions, including natural disasters such as floods that damaged school infrastructure. 

What follows are stories of ordinary teachers, learners, parents and education department officials who are at the coal face of changing the story of education from setbacks to success.

Matric exams amid a murder

By Estelle Ellis

A week before the exams started in October, Danteo Arends, a matric learner at Arcadia Senior Secondary School in Gqeberha, was murdered. 

“It was on their last day of school, you know that day when they sign each other’s shirts? We do it just a week or so before the exams,” said Principal Jackie Cloete. “Let me tell you, I was worried. 

“I was wondering if they will cope, if they will be able to concentrate. The children were so devastated.” 

The 36 matrics managed a pass rate of 97.2% despite the tragedy.

“We only had one learner fail and I am going to ask for a remarking for her,” said Cloete. 

Arcadia Senior Secondary is in a gang-ridden part of Nelson Mandela Bay, said Cloete. 

“The violence is so bad here some days. The other day, two men were shooting at each other right here in front of the school. Safety is a very big issue for us because we also never know if any of the learners are involved or are friends with those who are involved.” 

Cloete motivated the matrics right from the start of the year, emphasising that determination to achieve should be their driving force. “Throughout the year, we have focused on goal-setting. If you didn’t get to your goal, I said you try and then you try again.”

She also highlighted the role of alumni in encouraging and supporting matrics.

“We struggle to get support of the parents, but the alumni of our school have really come through for us. They helped with the matric farewell and they also took part in motivation sessions for the children.”  

Principal Jackie Cloete with pupils from Arcadia Senior Secondary School, Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, 14 January 2025. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)

Seeds of learning  are planted early

By Estelle Ellis

Nqileni village, at Xhora Mouth on the Wild Coast in one of the most rural parts of the Eastern Cape, had no functioning schools, electricity or safe drinking water when the founders of Bulungula Incubator arrived in 2004. Almost all the adults were illiterate and only a few had passed matric. 

The NGO, founded by executive director Rejane Woodroffe, steadily developed interventions to improve life for the entire community, including building Bulungula College. The matrics of 2024, who obtained a 100% matric pass rate, were brought up in the incubator-created system from early childhood. 

Zolile Dyubhele, who achieved six distinctions, joined the Jujurha Early Childhood Development Centre when he was five years old.

His father, Lindile, said: “When I meet old friends, they often say they wish Bulungula College had existed in our time. I was the only one from our junior school who graduated from high school. 

“For my son to have this opportunity means the world to me.” 

The story of another learner, said Sigrid Kite-Banks, content manager at the incubator, was a masterclass in resilience. She had failed matric in 2021 but joined the incubator’s entrepreneurship and job skills classes before deciding to return to school and repeat Grade 11 and Grade 12. She is now one of the learners who passed with a bachelor’s pass.

Kite-Banks said the no-fee college didn’t want a lack of money to be a barrier to education in the community and tried to create a nurturing environment for the pupils. 

“Many of our students are the first to pass matric in their families. There is an incredible amount of pressure on these children.” 

Bulungula College near Nqileni village on the Eastern Cape’s Wild Coast achieved a 100% matric pass rate. (Photo: Supplied)

Remarkable transformation

By Takudzwa Pongweni

Sidlasoke Secondary School in Mpumalanga had a matric pass rate of just 46.4% in 2023. Located in the impoverished hamlet of Siyabuswa, the no-fee school grapples with many of the challenges associated with this quintile: limited resources, inadequate infrastructure and a student body drawn from impoverished families.

“It’s a disadvantaged community with many learners from child-­headed households,” said Principal Thivhadini Solvin Ralulimi. “The majority of our students live alone because their parents are working in town. The nearest city is Pretoria, which is about 120km away.”  

Ralulimi said he started making changes when he was appointed as principal last year by focusing on improving attendance and updating policies.

“We started to make sure that there is a Code of Conduct that will benefit the school, because without discipline in the schools you will never get results.” 

Next in his turnaround strategy was the introduction of compulsory extra classes for all learners from Grade 10 to Grade 12. If learners were not attending, the school would try to involve their parents, however difficult that was. Teachers were also required to attend the extra classes, ensuring a joint effort to catch up on missed work.

Ralulimi credited the Department of Basic Education’s learner support programme for helping to ensure that Grade 12 learners were adequately prepared for their exams. The programme included camps that helped those underperforming in certain subjects, pushed students aiming for distinctions and ensured top performers stayed focused.

Asked how he motivated both staff and students to commit themselves to the turnaround process, Ralulimi explained it was a matter of standing his ground and being firm about what he wanted to achieve. He called in an expert to conduct a workshop for the teachers, focusing on professional ethics and how they should view their roles. 

Additionally, Ralulimi made sure that every teacher received a clear job description and signed it, ensuring that everyone understood their responsibilities.

“Everyone must know what is supposed to be done. We find that some of them think they are doing me a favour as the principal. They are not doing me a favour. They have committed to this profession, so they must do what is expected,” he said. 

Sidlasoke’s results showed an upward trajectory that Ralulimi hopes to continue this academic year: a matric pass rate of 71.1% and 11 bachelor’s passes. 

The feedback from parents had been overwhelmingly positive, said Ralulimi, who attributes the school’s progress to participatory leadership and a clear sense of purpose.

Ralulimi emphasised the importance of maintaining the momentum that has been built and said extra classes for all learners will be compulsory as soon as possible. 

“We want to start with the energy we ended on last year. Keeping learners at school for as much time as possible is key to improving results. When students are at home, we don’t know what they’re doing. Some don’t study and some don’t even read, but if we keep them in school, I believe it will help improve our results.”  

Improving a whole school district 

By Suné Payne 

“Landie Diamond is a true leader. She leads with conviction, sets clear goals and has high expectations for her district, and knows when a little tough love is necessary to improve results,” said Western Cape education MEC David Maynier on 14 January. 

He was referring to the director of one of the province’s biggest districts, Metro East, which includes areas such Kraaifontein and Khayelitsha. Schools in the district, which Diamond has led since 2021, attained an 88.50% pass rate, the highest ever. 

“The Metro East District Office and school principals in the district have worked extremely hard to meet their goals and we congratulate them on this success,” said Maynier, who visited Joe Slovo Secondary School in Khayelitsha, where the pass rate increased from 87.2% in 2023 to 99.3% in 2024. In the same period, its bachelor’s passes rose from 25.1% to 56.2%. 

The Western Cape education department said just 50.5% of Khayelitsha residents passed matric in 2009, and only 9.3% got bachelor’s passes. In 2024, the pass rate for Khayelitsha’s 20 high schools on average stood at 87.9%.  

The department’s director of communication, Bronagh Hammond, said: “The district has improved year on year with many wonderful examples of improvement under Ms Diamond’s management. [She] has always attributed the success of the district to teamwork and partnerships. There are clear goals set between the district and schools, with tutoring and extra classes taking place after school hours and during holidays. 

“There is also respect among peers and a can-do attitude that gets the whole district motivated and committed to ensuring quality education for all learners. 

“Our school principals are motivated and dedicated to improving the quality of education in their schools, despite many tough ­circumstances.”

Bringing hope to the ganglands

By Vincent Cruywagen 

Lotus High School in Cape Town is situated among the Cape Flats suburbs of Parkwood, Ottery and Lotus River, where gangs such as the Mongrels and Six Bobs operate.

When retiree Stephen Price became acting principal in July 2023 for six months, the matrics of that year had just finished their June exams. The pass rate  was an abysmal 32%. Price had one vision and one plan: to improve the matric results to 50%. 

“We improved to 65% [in the finals] and in 2024 to an astonishing 83.3%. My staff and I took our group from 32% to 65% in three months in 2023,” said Price.

“I had to focus on motivating my staff and getting them to believe that it is possible to change. What we did was we analysed every single kid in matric, especially the failures and, for example, told learner A he has failed Afrikaans and failed business studies, and he needs help there.

“I interviewed every matric to say this is what you need: you are only 2% short of passing. We had to give them confidence and that is what we did.”

Price and his dedicated staff then spent a whole term building up learners’ confidence and telling them that it was possible to improve the pass rate. At assembly, Price would mention each matric by name, and the school would clap and cheer. 

“We recognised the matrics so the other learners at the school started to cheer and stamp their feet at the assembly in that term. The matrics started to feel good about themselves and believe that it was possible.”

Equally, Price had to make the teachers be­­lieve that achieving the goal was possible. He reminded them why they became teachers and that they were the most important people in these children’s lives.

“The most stable place for these learners was the school. Their teacher was their most reliable person in their life. Their teacher pitched up every day because daddy didn’t or mommy couldn’t,” he said.

“Our school is surrounded by the Mongrels and Six Bobs gangs; it’s hectic. I had to learn a hell of a lot. I’ve never been in a gangster environment, but I got a birthday card from the kids at the beginning of 2024 and they said, ‘Sir, when you arrived, we didn’t think you were going to last long, but you have and you have made our school the best school in the Western Cape.’ 

“That is important to me, that the learners in their own minds felt it was the best school. That meant the world to me,” said Price.

His tenure will finally come to an end after the first school term in April, when the next principal takes office.

One of the learners who benefited from the individual support offered at the school is Misqhah Polwan, the highest achiever in the Class of 2024 with 63.14%. She lost her stepfather, Nazeem Marinus, on 20 October 2024, the day before matric exams began. The support from the school was pivotal in helping her to keep focus.

Recalling the day when her stepfather died, she said: “I was overwhelmed and shocked by what happened. At the end of the day, I told myself that I need to do this for my daddy. So, I decided to persevere and go on. I also need to thank the school for assisting me when I needed them the most.”

Another learner who benefited from the support from Price and his staff is Erin Russel. She gave birth to twins in July 2023 when she was in Grade 11. She returned to school in 2024 and passed.

“I came back because I needed to complete my matric for a job and a better future for my children. I want to be a flight attendant. To other learners falling pregnant, I want to say, don’t give up on your studies,” she said.

Lotus High School Principal Stephen Price with nine of the school’s 10 top achievers. (Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)

NGOs filling the gap 

By Naledi Sikhakhane

Neliswa Bhengu (19) is one of the stars in Zwelethu High School in Umlazi, Durban. She passed with four distinctions, including in Pure Mathematics and Physical Sciences.

Bhengu lives with her mother, who cares for her two siblings, and her nephew and niece.

“When it comes to academics, I did not compromise. I always chose my books over anything. Even through difficult situations, I used to change those situations into motivation to keep me going and study hard in order to be able to change the situation.

“I also attended extra classes at the Kutlwa­nong Maths and Science programme from Grade 10 until Grade 12. It helped me a lot – I would not have obtained the marks I did if it was not for Kutlwanong,” Bhengu said. Kutlwanong is a nonprofit organisation that supports teachers and students in the fields of maths and science, especially those in underprivileged communities. 

Matrics at Siyanda Secondary School in Nqutu, in the deep rural area of Isandlwana, about 50km from Dundee, achieved a 100% pass rate and an 80% average pass in Mathematics. This is partly the result of teachers and learners receiving support from Khula Education, which works in partnership with rural schools and underserved communities.

Christopher Magunda, the head of Khula’s Mathematics department, said that after efforts to help raise the overall pass mark, the focus shifted to the quality of those marks. The organisation has been working with the school since 2017.

Magunda said the students worked hard, attending extra classes on weekends and after school to achieve these results.

“We could not have done this without the cooperation of teachers and the principal. They were so willing to give time and work hard.” 

Principal Zanele Sibiya said she was excited and humbled by the teamwork of 2024. 

“I’m also a bit scared because this means one will have to maintain, and maintenance is not always easy. It is hard work [and takes] the dedication of educators, the commitment of learners and working tirelessly in collaboration with Khula, as well as resilience against all odds.” DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.