Limpopo MEC for Education, Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya, has revealed the secret behind the province recording its highest matric pass rate since the 12-year implementation of the national curriculum assessment policy statement (CAPS).
Lerule-Ramakhanya, the provincial executive committee (PEC) member of the ANC, is confident the province will build on the achievement.
Speaking on Sunday World Engage, Lerule-Ramakhanya, who has been in the position for 18 months, said improving planning, strengthening communication, holding districts, circuits and principals accountable, and getting education stakeholders to focus on common priorities were among the key focus areas that
helped her turn the provinces’ fortunes around.
Recognised as the most improved province in the 2023 National Senior Certificate results, with a 7.4% rise in the pass rate to 79.5%, Lerule-Ramakhanya said this result also marked a psychological breakthrough.
Limpopo moved up the provincial rankings from position nine to seven, and also surpassed its overall pass rate, which has been between 62.5% and 73.2% in the past 10 years since the grade 12 pupils have been writing the National Senior Certificate under the CAPS.
“Though we produce quality bachelor passes, our maths and science pupils are doing well, and they go to universities, but because of our position, no one acknowledged what the teachers and the learners do in class.”
She said the pass rate, which was just 0.46% shy of 80%, is a big confidence boost for the province because there has been a shift in enthusiasm because teachers, pupils and parents can now see that it is possible to achieve a pass mark of over 80%.
Though the province has been at the bottom of the provincial rankings, it is now in the top five provinces in terms of the number of bachelor’s degree passes and the number of distinctions achieved.
In the 2023 results, Limpopo was also the highest achieving province in accounting in the no-fee schools category.
Along with the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, it also contributed to 50.9% of bachelor’s degree passes. It was also in the top five, producing 59% of the total passes with distinctions.
Lerule-Ramakhanya said that together with the management of the department, led by the head of department, Onica Dederen, she met the principals of all primary and secondary schools last year.
During the meeting, the district directors presented the results of each of the schools, and the principals were asked to confirm the results.
“Through that engagement, the principals realised that they were not talking to each other. The difficulty that this principal has is the same difficulty
[experienced at] the other school,” she said.
Lerule-Ramakhanya said she instructed them to start talking to each other, adding they should indicate where they need support.
She said that as part of working together, teachers who were excelling in a specific subject also assisted those in other districts. “These teachers would also have camps. Pupils had the opportunity to learn the subject from a different viewpoint.”
She said the late delivery of textbooks and learning materials could be attributed to poor planning.
“For the past two years, we have stabilised in terms of textbooks and learning material for the learners,” she said.
With 120 focus schools in agriculture, mining, and maths and science, Lerule-Ramakhanya said she was excited about the partnerships between her department and the province’s department of agriculture.
“I no longer have to have a teacher in class and a teacher that goes with pupils to the gardens for practicals. The department of agriculture will close that gap. I’m happy that the department has adopted our schools,” she said.
