By Irene Kuppan and Keith Ross
All the matriculants at four KwaZulu-Natal schools had failed their matric exams, provincial education superintendent-general Cassius Lubisi said on Thursday morning.
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He did not name or provide the number of matriculants at the schools but said they were in Vryheid, uMzinyathi, Obonjeni and Empangeni.
Speaking at a press conference at Durban's Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre, Lubisi said that in 2008 there had been seven schools with a zero percent pass rate.
Lubisi said there was also a slight decline in the number of schools that obtained a 100 percent pass rate. In 2008, 95 schools achieved a full pass rate in 2008 and that number dropped to 82 in 2009.
"But the moral of the story, generally speaking, is that in KZN we have been pulling under-performing schools out of the doldrums," said Lubisi.
Touching on the pass rate in the individual subjects, he said the maths papers were too difficult.
There was a 45 percent pass rate in maths, 39 percent in physical science and 67 percent in accounting.
He said the maths paper had been very difficult and it seemed to cater for those at the upper end of the performance levels.
Despite the challenges, pupils, teachers and the department face in the province, KZN was singled out as one of the highlights of this year's results.
The improvement in the matric pass rate from 57.8 percent to 61.1 percent in KwaZulu-Natal was a highly significant phenomenon, particularly in the light of the province's socio-economic conditions, said Deputy Minister for Basic Education Enver Surty.
"It is principally a rural province out there, with huge socio-economic challenges, and yet they have been able to produce," he said.
Surty made these comments in an SAfm Radio programme, The After Eight Debate.
He said that countrywide the emphasis should not be only on the decline in the overall matric pass rate, as there were many positive aspects, with significant improvements in certain fields.
For instance, there had been a significant improvement in the number of matrics qualifying to study for university degrees. This percentage had increased from 18 to 32 percent.
There had also been significant improvements in the results for maths and physical science.
"The emphasis has been on quality education - rather have fewer but better, as it were," he said.
"While quantitatively there may have been a decline, qualitatively there has been a significant improvement."