The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in KwaZulu Natal congratulates all the matriculants of 2024 for the excellent pass rate in the basic education sector. This performance is welcomed as a country which is grappling with high unemployment rate, the future of our younger generation hinges on their ability to cope and understand academic literature.
As KwaZulu Natal we are proud of our province coming second in the overall results. This is a testament to the fact that indeed, workers in the public sector such as teachers, principals, clerks, administrators, academic specialists, subject specialists, departmental employees, food handlers and security personnel are not lazy and are not mysterious in servicing the public, as some would wish to purport the workers as such. To the contrary, it is these workers who worked tirelessly to ensure that the education system works hard to produce the kind of results we all celebrate today. They do this despite the adverse conditions under which they are forced to work.
KwaZulu Natal has nearly 6 000 schools in total, which is the highest in the country, with over 2 million learners. This is a mammoth task for a province which has vast rural communities with substantially low infrastructure development. Despite these challenges the province recorded 161 962 candidates writing the National Senior Certificate with 144 990 passing (89.5%), 84 000 Bachelor passes, which was the highest in the country, marking a significant improvement from 45.7% in 2023. This a significant increase in schools achieving a 100% pass rate, from 246 in 2023 to 321 in 2024.
It is a documented fact that the budget of the Department of Education has been drastically reduced and provinces operate under deplorable conditions. We salute members of our affiliate, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) who work under this systemic crisis, and we will continue to support the workers as a progressive Federation. SADTU recently embarked a number of activities demanding improvement in conditions of service of teachers and for the honouring of norms and standards by the department. It is clear that if the Department of Education could improve work relations with labour and attend to the issues raised, achievements could increase.
We wish our matriculants well in their pursuit going forward whether in higher education or in other fields of life. We also want to encourage those who did not perform well to return to school and study hard and get a second opportunity to pass. No amount of failure should demoralise those who did not make it or push them into doing wrong things.
Issued by COSATU KZN Province
Edwin Mkhize (Provincial Secretary)
0823997756