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ActionSA cautiously welcomes the 6.9% year-on-year improvement in the NSC results, a significant increase that highlights the Class of 2024’s remarkable achievement as they also hold the distinction of achieving both the highest pass rate and number of bachelor’s passes in history.

As we cautiously welcome this announcement and congratulate the Class of 2024, ActionSA remains particularly focused on ensuring the sustainability of this achievement for future matric cohorts. The key to this lies in whether this government's long-overdue reforms will include meaningful plans to fix South Africa's dysfunctional education system.

Importantly, ActionSA is solemnly reminded of the immense challenges faced by many learners across South Africa throughout their 12-year schooling journey. For so many, their very ability to sit for their exams was tested by numerous hardships. 

From enduring dire socio-economic conditions and inadequate schooling infrastructure to navigating dangerous rivers and braving long walks in sweltering heat or blistering cold just to reach a classroom, far too many learner’s journeys are not merely a testament to hard work but to an extraordinary resilience in overcoming a system seemingly designed to hinder their success at every turn.

ActionSA believes that every learner deserves access to quality education in a conducive environment. However, to achieve this, bold reforms are essential to address the systemic dysfunction plaguing South Africa’s education system. 

Sadly, the disparate education outcomes that continue to define our system are a cause for concern. While IEB learners achieved a 98.47% pass rate, NSC learners reached an 87.3% pass rate. This gap not only highlights an education system struggling with unequal access to quality education, but beyond the statistics, it also reflects the systemic divides that continue to prevent many learners from reaching their full potential.

ActionSA notes the following key outcomes of the 2024 NSC results:

Best performing provinces: 

• ⁠Free State (91%, up from 89%)
• KwaZulu-Natal (89.5%, up from 86.4%)
• Gauteng (88.4%, up from 85.4%)
• Biggest improvement in results across all provinces: 
• Northern Cape (8.4%, up from 75.8% to 84.2%)
• ⁠Mpumalanga (7.9%, up from 77 to 84.9)
• NW (5.9%, up from 81.6 to 87.5)

ActionSA wishes to thank the many hard-working teachers who contributed to the success of the Class of 2024.

To sustain the commendable results achieved by the Class of 2024, ActionSA believes that the true test of the GNU’s long-overdue promised reforms will lie in ensuring a focus on the following critical areas, which ActionSA has identified as essential reforms:

1. Prioritising investment in early childhood development to lay a solid foundation for lifelong learning.

2. Ensuring that schools are equipped with the necessary resources and facilities to support effective teaching and learning. 

3. Improving Teacher Content Knowledge and Pedagogical Skills – Addressing the pressing need to enhance teachers' subject mastery and teaching methods to ensure effective learning.

4. Reinvigorating the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit (NEEDU) through expedited adoption of the NEEDU Bill.

5. Reestablishing the Annual National Assessments (ANAs) to monitor progress and ensure transparency in school performance.

6. Tackling the glaring deficiencies in oversight across the department and implementing performance-linked management to hold educators and administrators accountable for results.

ActionSA believes South Africa cannot afford further delays in addressing the root causes of the education crisis, which jeopardises the future of millions of learners and the country’s development as a whole.

Issued by ActionSA President Herman Mashaba