The class that had it the toughest through the Covid-19 pandemic, and who lived through the July unrest in 2021 and other challenges, has finally wrapped up their school years.

The 2022 Independent Examinations Board’s (IEB) National Senior Certificate (NSC) matric results, which were released early on Tuesday morning, show a slightly higher pass rate of 98.42% compared to 2021’s 98.39%.

A total of 12 580 full-time and 945 part-time candidates from 232 examination centres writing in 262 venues across southern Africa wrote the NSC examinations. A total of 89.32% of matriculants achieved entry to degree study, compared to 89.2% in 2021.

There was a decrease in those who qualified for entry to diploma with 7.52% compared to 7.82% in 2021, said the IEB. CEO of the IEB, Anne Oberholzer, said it was fair to say the class of 2022 were hardest hit by the impact of the pandemic when it broke in 2020 in their Grade 10 year.

She said their performance was outstanding. She said while the class of 2022 saw how previous Grade 12 classes of 2020 and 2021 managed to adapt to a new reality, they were the class that missed out the most in their Grade 10 and Grade 11 years, which are fundamentally important to success in their Grade 12 performance.

“Various strategies have been employed to try and mitigate these, moving teaching online, pen and paper distance education, catch-up programmes, weekend school lessons and so on — some more successful than others,” said Oberholzer.

“They have had to work hard to maintain their drive and perseverance to succeed and in many respects, dig deep to play catch-up in terms of lost time and experiences. The social and emotional impact of the pandemic on learners cannot be overlooked — the impact of lockdown, the absence of normal social interaction with friends and engagement in the social activities of teenagers should not be underestimated.

“The dedication of the teaching community to implement various strategies to support their classes during this black swan event is exemplary. The IEB congratulates the candidates, their teachers and parents for a job extraordinarily well done.”

Pietermaritzburg’s Epworth High School for Girls, St Anne’s Diocesan College and St John’s Diocesan School for Girls were listed in the IEB outstanding achievements’ list with learners achieving within the top 5% in six or more subjects and achieving a rating of seven in life orientation.