A total of 753 964 full-time and 167 915 part-time candidates registered to write the final matric exams last year, and they started writing on 31 October.
It has been an anxiety-fueled few weeks since they finished their last papers on 7 December amidst reports of cheating in some centres, a curious Mathematics Paper 2 question that led to a probe into how it got into the final paper, and uncertainty about the future after 12 years of schooling.
“The pressure that our learners are facing currently is actually the same pressure that we are facing as educators. Just last night, me and my colleague, Silindile Bhengu, were talking about how nervous we are. It felt like we were actually in Grade 12 as well,” said high school teacher Nokubonga Chonco ahead of the release of the 2022 matric results.
For her, “all results are good, whether you pass or whether you fail” because they are an opportunity to move forward or go back to re-focus so you can move forward.
Nokubonga teaches Grade 12 accounting at Eastwood Secondary School in Pietermaritzburg. Her message to those who have failed or have not passed as well as they had hoped is, “You are actually very special. The fact that you sat in that exam room and you wrote all those exams. You have crossed the finish line. So many people fail to cross that line. But you are one unique individual.
“So what does it mean? It actually means that in future you will be able to make it through, whether you fail or whether you pass. Basically, what I’m trying to say is that this is part of life. In life, sometimes things go well and not all the things will go badly. So the fact that you failed means you pick yourself up and start all over again. That’s life!
“So if you did not make it in Grade 12, you adopt exactly the same system: you pick yourself up and you try again, going back to school. You are more than welcome! We accept you. We don’t neglect those ones.
“And guess what? I have seen learners who have come back to my school to redo their matric, and the way they are so focused and the way the pass their Grade 12? Wow! It’s amazing.
Early last year, teacher Curtis Beukes shared on Facebook that university was not the only option after matric.
His post went viral.
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He got so many likes and PM (private message) requests for him to explain further, that he followed up with a commitment to make a video series explaining why “I will always preach trade over universities”.
When Drum speaks to him again a year later, ahead of the release of the 2022 matric results, the much-loved automotive teacher at Bellville Technical High School has not changed his tune.
“As matrics get their results in two days’ time, it is very, very important for them to know that university is not the only way. Sorry, I have to preach the same thing,” he says with a chuckle. “It is what I preach.”
And like many a good preacher, he has converts. “After we spoke last time, at this moment, I have nine of my previous matrics in different sectors,” Curtis shares.
“I have former matrics who are going into the second year in the earth-moving sector; I have learners who are going into their second year in the fitting-and-turning sector, and the welding sector as well, and the spray painting and bodywork sector.
“These learners all matriculated at technical schools. They didn’t have the best results or results that they could use to gain entry into university. But all of them, with their technical results, basically had N3 and started apprenticeships in various companies and all are heading into the second year."
Curtis is adamant we can all contribute in meaningful ways to society through the work we do, and we don’t all need to go to university to be able to do so.
“The technical sector is the future, and people with technical skills will always prosper forward," he tells Drum.
"For those learners who did not pass or didn’t perform as well as they’d hoped to, they can still pursue a technical skill or go into a technical field to further their studies at a TVET college if they weren’t in a technical high school.
"At the TVET, they can do N1, N2 and N3 in any technical field that will either help them to become an artisan or be in line for a learnership or apprenticeship.
“Once you have the N3, which will take you one year to do, you can pursue studies in the technical sector to do the apprenticeships or learnerships.”
Whether you’ve failed or passed matric, says former UCT High School Principal Yandiswa Xhakaza, “You are still in the driver’s seat of your own life.”
The founding principal of South Africa’s largest online high school believes learners must try and maintain a sense of perspective about this moment which seems so life-defining.
“I want them to know that, whether they have passed or failed, gotten accepted into the university or TVET College of their choice or not, their dreams are still valid, their lives still matter, their story doesn’t end here.
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“This is just the beginning of a step into adulthood, it is an opportunity to carve your path despite what you had planned,” adds Yandiswa who recently established a co-working space for high-schoolers.
“It is important to remember that the show must go on! Even if the show doesn't unfold as you had imagined, it is time to step up and rethink your plan," says the founder of TeenHubs.
"Dust yourself off, think about who you really are and where you really want to go. That route might not be the conventional route that society puts on a pedestal, it might just be a route that you know deeply within yourself is the route you must take. By all means, take it.
"You are still in the driver's seat of your own life and destiny."
