On hearing basic education minister Angie Motshekga’s triumph in heralding the 2022 matric results, one might be led to believe that SA had, through sheer grit and determination, managed to defy grave Covid-19-related learning losses to post record-breaking matric results.

There was a lot of nonsense in her speech about the “resilience” of the Class of 2022 and “the maturity of a system on the rise”, as if this could explain a 44% increase in the number of matric candidates writing the National Senior Certificate since 2019, a 41.6% increase in the number of basic passes and a 50% increase in the number of bachelor passes. The bachelor pass rate (38.4% of all matrics) was also the highest ever, after having hovered around 36% for the last three years...

Subscribe now to unlock this article.

Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).

There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.

Cancel anytime.

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.