More than 100,000 progressed learners passed, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said in Midrand on Wednesday.

The pass rate without the progressed pupils was 76.2%, up from 74% last year.

Progressed pupils are those who fail a grade for two consecutive years and are then promoted to the next grade.

Motshekga said attention had been given to providing academic support for these pupils during the year.

“As a result in 2016 we saw the largest number of progressed learners since the promulgation of the policy. Failing learners does not help them. We need to instead support them in areas of weakness.”

Of the progressed pupils, over 3,000 got bachelor’s degree passes.

“The significance of this achievement is that these learners would be high school dropouts if they had not been supported,” she said.

The Free State was the country’s top performing province, with pass rate of 93.2%, followed by the Western Cape at 87.7%, Gauteng at 87%, North-West at 86.2%, the Northern Cape at 82.2%, Mpumalanga at 81.3%, KwaZulu-Natal at 66.5%, Limpopo at 68.2% and the Eastern Cape at 63.3%.

“The National Senior Certificate results are one of the most important barometers to assess progress made by government,” Motshekga said.

Further improvements in the schooling system were needed, she said. DM

Photo: Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga (SAPA)