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2003 matric pass rate 73.3%
31 December 2003
Education Minister Kader Asmal has announced the 2003 matric results for state schools, which showed an improvement of 4.4% from 2002 and of 24% from 1999. South Africa's 2003 matric pass rate was 73.3%, up from 48.9% in 1999.
Asmal said during a press conference in Cape Town that the exam results were indicative of functional systems in place.
Umalusi, the independent assurer of examinations - previously known as the South African Certification Council - also gave the 2003 matric results the thumbs-up, declaring the standard of the question papers as appropriate and fair.
"We now have an assessment and examination system that we can be proud of", Asmal said. "Both internal and external reports have emphatically concluded that the administration of the 2003 senior certificate examination has been beyond reproach."
Umalusi also found that "the conducting of the examinations was proper and regular and incident-free; the standard of
marking and internal moderation was good; the standardisation process was sufficiently rigorous; and the conduct of continuous assessment was acceptable", Asmal said.
"There is no doubt that the 2003 results place a significant distance between the present and our past," he said.
Provincial breakdown of results:
- The Northern Cape has improved its pass rate from 89.9% in 2002 to 90.7% in 2003, an increase of 0.8%.
- Gauteng improved from 78.1% in 2002 to 81.5% in 2003, an increase of 3.4%.
- Limpopo improved from 69.5% in 2002 to 70% in 2003, an increase of 0.5%.
- KwaZulu-Natal improved from 70.8% in 2002 to 77.2% in 2003, an increase of 6.4%.
- Free State improved from 70.7% in 2002 to 80.0% in 2003, an increase of 9.3%. The Free State Province has improved student performances by 21% in two years.
- North West improved from 67.8% in 2002 to 70.5% in 2003, an increase of 2.7%.
- Western Cape improved from
86.5% in 2002 to 87.1% in 2003, an increase of 0.6%.
- Eastern Cape improved from 51.8 % in 2002 to 60% in 2003, an increase of 8.2%.
- Mpumalanga improved from 55.8% in 2002 to 58.2% in 2003, an increase of 2.4%.
The Independent Examinations Board, the body that runs matric examinations for most private schools in South Africa, announced earlier that 98.4% of the 6290 candidates who entered its 2003 examinations had passed.
Source: BuaNews
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