“The early bird catches the worm” – Chasing the Class of 2024

31 January 2025

It is the first Monday of the new year, the 6th of January 2025.

In one of South Africa’s biggest townships, hundreds of Grade 12 learners across Khayelitsha descend on their schools to start learning for the 2025 academic year.

Schools only officially open on the 15th of January according to the national school calendar.
This does not deter these learners.

They have arrived at school to attend extra-classes and to get a leg-up on their 2025 matric journey. They are chasing the Class of 2024 in setting the district to new heights.

There are just 10 months to go before the start of their final National Senior Certificate examination, and their sights are set on achieving as many passes as possible, with access to bachelor studies.

The matric classes in years before them have already done the community of Khayelitsha proud, having made a massive turnaround in school performance over the past 15 years. Their story is one of commitment, perseverance and resilience, in often adverse and difficult conditions and circumstances.

It is a story of how school communities within a wider township area can overcome poverty and achieve excellent results.

In 2009, the matric learners of Khayelitsha had an NSC pass rate of 50,8%. With additional interventions, resources, and of course committed and dedicated teachers and learners, the pass rate has jumped to 87,6% in 2024.

Similarly, the bachelor pass rate has also seen some massive gains, with only 9,8% of learners in Khayelitsha achieving a bachelor pass rate. This has increased to 47,8% in 2024.

While these results are to be congratulated, we have no doubt that there will be further celebrations come January 2026, when the Class of 2025’s results are announced.

They are hot on the Class of 2024’s tails to surpass these numbers and with the dedication they have already shown, we have no doubt that they will achieve this success!