“We are no longer there, we have risen,” said Limpopo Education MEC Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya, exclaiming a sigh of relief after the province achieved an 85,01% pass rate in the 2024 matric exams, after years of underperformance.
Limpopo province, which was previously considered as South Africa’s poorest performing provinces, has struggled to rise from the bottom in the National Senior Certificate (NSC) results, announced by Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube.
On Monday night, Gwarube said Limpopo secured the sixth position nationwide, an improvement from the seventh position in 2023.
The national pass rate for 2024 was 87.9%, up from 82.9% in 2023.
““Three years ago, I stood before you in this very same venue and declared that we are a province on the rise,” said Lerule-Ramakhanya during a provincial matric announcement at the Ranch Hotel outside Polokwane.
“We are no longer there, we have risen, you can even go and check the last spot that we occupied for the longest time, we are a province on the rise.”
Lerule-Ramakhanya emphasised that the improvement was not just wishful thinking, but the result of hard work by learners, teachers and school principals.
“We were not thumb-sucking nor hallucinating, we trusted the work that was being done by the school principals and the educators who kept their eyes on the ball.”
The province has been at the bottom of the rankings for several years, raising concerns among the public.
In 2019, the province recorded a 73.2% pass rate in the ninth spot, followed by 2020, with 68.2% at position seven and a record-low of 66.7% in 2021, at the bottom.
It improved to 72.1% in 2022, but that was at the bottom, and 79.5% in 2022 at the seventh position.
This year the province has managed to take a leap forward with 85.01%.
Lerule-Ramakhanya hailed the rise from the seventh to sixth place as a target that was never achieved since the dawn of democracy.
“We are a province on the rise,” she said.
“I am delighted to announce that we have moved a step up from position seven that we occupied last year to position six."
She said that with the class of 2025 having already started teaching and learning, she aims for a top five position in the country’s next matric results.
A breakdown of Limpopo’s 2024 NSC Matric Results:
Lerule-Ramakhanya revealed the top four districts: Mogalakwena at 87.8%, Mopani West at 87.2%, with Vhembe East and Capricorn South both achieving 85.8% passes.
Other districts were Mopani East at 85.3%, Waterberg at 85%, followed by Capricorn North at 84.9%.
Vhembe West achieved 84,8%, followed by Sekhukhune East at 84,0% and Sekhukhune South at 80%.
The most improved district was Sekhukhune East District, with an improvement of 19.5% on the 2022 results of 64.5% passes to 84.0% in 2024.
Among the top performing public schools, Mbilwi Secondary School was leading with 307 bachelor passes, followed by Thengwe Secondary School with 234 bachelor passes and Dzata Secondary School with 220 bachelor passes. All these schools are in the Vhembe West district.
In the independent school category, the New Era College in Vhembe East, which had 436 candidates, achieved 230 bachelor passes.
Limpopo Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba has lauded the province’s progress, stating that the province had steadily improved its results from the low 38% in the 1990s.
“We have faced challenges, but we have remained steadfast in our commitment to improving our matric pass rate beyond the impressive 79.5% achieved by the class of 2023,” Ramathuba said in her address.
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