EFF Free State Provincial Secretary
By Thabo Mosia
EFF Free State Provincial Secretary, Malefane Msimanga, has commended the province’s learners, educators, and administrators for achieving a historic 91.0% matric pass rate in the 2024 National Senior Certificate (NSC) results. This milestone solidifies the Free State’s reputation as a consistent leader in education, marking its sixth consecutive year as the top-performing province in South Africa. “As EFF in the Province of Free State, we would want to take this opportunity to thank Adv Malakoane, his team of administrators, teachers, parents, and learners of our beloved province for continuing to steer the ship in the right direction,” said Msimanga.
Celebrating Excellence in Education
The 91.0% pass rate reflects a remarkable improvement from 89.0% in 2023, highlighting the province’s collective commitment to educational excellence. Msimanga credited the administrative leadership of Adv Tsoarelo Malakoane for the province’s consistent dominance in national rankings under various MECs and Premiers. “It is under his administrative leadership where Free State as a province dominated the national scene with position number one, consistently under different MECs and Premiers for many years without fail,” he added.
Msimanga also emphasised the often-overlooked efforts of educators and learners, stating, “The weakness of our society and media at large is to celebrate the owner of the horse instead of the horse and jockey who took tremendous effort preparing for a win at the racing day.” He urged for more recognition of those directly responsible for the achievement while calling for continued focus on improving education quality.
Recognising Top Achievers
In celebration of the outstanding results, the Free State Department of Education will host a well-done ceremony on 17 January 2025 at the Boet Troskie Hall on the Central University of Technology campus in Bloemfontein. MEC Dr Mamiki Maboya and Free State Premier Mathae will honour the top learners from districts including Thabo Mofutsanyana, Motheo, and Lejweleputswa, with four of the province’s districts securing top ten positions nationally.
Addressing Challenges and Building Resilience
The success of the Class of 2024 is particularly notable given the challenges they faced, having started Grade 8 in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Adv Malakoane acknowledged these difficulties, highlighting that 2021, the year learners selected their Grade 10 subjects, was also disrupted. Despite these setbacks, the cohort demonstrated exceptional resilience, with 36,312 learners sitting for the matric exams out of the 37,561 who entered Grade 12.
A Vision for Enhanced Quality
While celebrating the achievements, Msimanga called for a focused approach to improving education quality. “Moving forward, the department needs to pay closer attention in producing more distinctions and bachelors than any other province in the country. Every cent of the department should be focused on ensuring we improve the quality of our results this year,” he said. Msimanga concluded with a message of unity, saying, “Asinamona, asina nzondo; we celebrate this outstanding achiever and the collective.”
National Context: South Africa’s Record-Breaking Year
The Free State’s achievement comes as part of a record-breaking year for South Africa’s matric results, with the national pass rate reaching an all-time high of 87.3%, up from 82.9% in 2023. Over 615,429 learners passed the NSC exams, with 47.8% achieving Bachelor passes, the highest proportion ever recorded. This national progress underscores the growing commitment to education across all provinces.
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