Top-achieving matriculants honoured at ministerial breakfast
Thirty-four pupils from various schools across the country were celebrated at a ministerial breakfast in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Top achievers from the 2023 matric class at a ministerial breakfast held in Johannesburg on 18 January 2024.
JOHANNESBURG - The Basic Education Department says the high-quality results achieved by South Africa’s top-achieving matriculants are a hallmark of the performance of the cohort.
Thirty-four pupils from various schools across the country were celebrated at a ministerial breakfast in Johannesburg on Thursday.
The celebration of their academic performance comes ahead of Minister Angie Motshekga’s release of the National Senior Certificate results.
The results will indicate whether the class of 2023 has improved on the 80.1% pass rate of the class of 2022, who had to work through the COVID-19 pandemic. The auditorium erupted in jubilation as South Africa’s top-achieving matriculants walked in.
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Gleaming with pride, each candidate was adorned in a spectrum of coloured uniforms showcasing their achievements through badges on their blazers.
Behind them stood parents who had been steadfast companions on their 12-year journey.
Basic Education Department Director General Mathanzima Mweli said the pupils have reaffirmed the strength of the public education system.
“Every year we’re looking for that improvement, if you look at the past five years, we only dropped in 2020 and the reason is known… but apart from that we’ve seen these young people, teachers, and their parents working extremely hard.”
Meanwhile, independent schools kicked off the 2023 matric results on a high note, achieving an overall pass rate of 98.46%.