Gauteng Premier disappointed with Education MEC Matric performance

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Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has expressed disappointment in his education MEC Matome Chiloane for failing to achieve a Matric pass rate of 90% for the class of 2023.

Lesufi along with Chiloane led an award ceremony for the province’s Matric Top Achievers in Bryanston, north of Johannesburg on Friday.

Gauteng matriculants achieved a pass rate of 85.4%, an improvement of one percent from last year and currently sits third in the overall national performance rankings.

Addressing guests at the ceremony, a very dissatisfied Lesufi said a drop to number three in the county must serve as a wake up call.

“I know MEC Chiloane disputes the fact, he emphasise that we were at 84% last year. We are now at eighty five percent which simply means it’s an improvement – I duly accept that.

“However, my performance contract with you [MEC] doesn’t speak about eighty five percent but ninety percent so out of the ten points that I have to give for performance on this one I’m going to politely allocate only three out of ten.”

Meanwhile, Joburg council speaker Margaret Arnolds has congratulated the Matric class of 2023 on achieving the highest pass rate in the demographic era of 82,9%.

Arnolds said the youth and the future will always be linked because none can exist in the absence of another.

“Education, in this regard, is the bridge that connects young people and the future. I would also like to extend congratulatory remarks to the department of basic education in general and the Gauteng department of education in particular for obtaining 85,4%,” she stated.

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As the speaker of council, Arnolds presides over the Johannesburg student council – this is composed of over hundred enthusiastic teenagers from sixty different schools throughout the City.

She added; ” These are the people who will shape Johannesburg’s future. Moreover, the goal of these youngsters is to represent the city’s youth by bringing up challenges and potential answers that are unique to high school students.

“They are also learning every aspects of local government, including the roles and responsibilities of all parties engaged and the processes by which political choices are carried out.”