Picture: RSA President, Cyril Ramaphosa
By OBAKENG MAJE
19 January 2026- The Republic of South Africa (RSA), Cyril Ramaphosa said last week, the Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube announced that the Matric Class of 2025 had made history by achieving the highest pass rate in our country’s history. Ramaphosa said more than 650 000 learners passed the National Senior Certificate, achieving a pass rate of 88%.
He further congratulated all the learners and their teachers, families and communities for this great achievement. Ramaphosa added that they applaud every learner who sat these exams.
“The matric results have shown a steady improvement over many years, both in the quantity and the quality of the achievements. They have contributed to a dramatic increase in the number of South Africans older than 20 who have a matric qualification, increasing from 30% in 2002 to 52% in 2024.
“This outstanding achievement shows the value of the investment we are making in education and the efforts we have made to ensure that all children, regardless of their background and gender, have access to quality education,” he said.
Ramaphosa said global experience has shown that one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty is to ensure that girl children receive a good education. He said it is therefore significant that in 2025, more girls sat for the matric exams than boys and that the pass rates of boys and girls were much the same.
“A higher proportion of girls attained admission to Bachelor studies than boys, and nearly twice as many obtained distinctions. This bodes well for the continuation of their studies at universities and colleges. It is also significant that more than two-thirds of all bachelor passes came from schools in the most disadvantaged communities, classified as quintiles 1-3.
“This is both a testament to the determination of these learners and their teachers, and to the effectiveness of policies like no-fee schools and the child support grant. Taken together with the expansion in recent years of funding for tertiary students from poor backgrounds, these results give us encouragement that many of these young people will be able to lift themselves and their families out of poverty,” said Ramaphosa.
He said they are encouraged by the fact that 90% of learners with special education needs passed matric and 52% achieved bachelor passes, both higher than the national average. Ramaphosa said their task is now to ensure that more learners with special needs are able to write matric exams.
“As we applaud these great results, we must acknowledge that challenges remain. Of the 1.2 million children who started grade one in 2014, only 778,000 made it through to grade 12 in 2025. That’s nearly half a million young people who left school before finishing. As we strive to improve the quality of our matric results, we must work harder to ensure that more children complete their schooling.
“Another challenge is the drop in performance in subjects like mathematics. While more learners are taking these subjects, we have seen a drop in the pass rates for mathematics and accounting. These are subjects that our learners need to excel at if they are to succeed in a rapidly changing economy,” he said.
Ramaphosa said in working to address these challenges, we are starting with the foundations of learning. He said in the same week that the results came out for the class of 2025, the class of 2037 started their first day of grade one.
“From this moment, they are starting their preparations for matric and beyond. That is why they are placing greater emphasis and making more investment into the early years of schooling. We have made Grade R compulsory and embarked on an ambitious drive to register and provide subsidies to more early childhood development centres.
“We are strengthening early grade reading, improving teaching materials and focusing on teacher development in the early grades. By investing in children at the start of their school career, by giving them a solid educational foundation, we are preparing them for success. We are working to ensure that they all finish their schooling, that they excel in matric and that they go on to thrive in everything they do,” said Ramaphosa.
He said the achievements of the Class of 2025 must inspire and encourage all the years of learners that are to follow.
The Guardian 