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Almost 45,000 grade 12 learners passed their final maths exam in 2024 with 60% or more. This is a requirement for anyone wanting to do a science, engineering or technology degree.
The government set an annual target of 35,000 learners achieving 60% for maths in the National Senior Certificate exams by 2024. The 2023 matrics were the first group to exceed that number. The class of 2024 managed to do even better, with 44,636 learners achieving 60% or more.
The same target was set for physical science, but the 2024 cohort fell short by 3,655 learners.
Maths and physical science are not popular subjects in South Africa’s high schools. Somewhere between grade 8 in 2020, when there were just over 1.1-million students enrolled, and grade 12 in 2024, a large portion of children gave up on maths and science. By grade 12 only about 252,000 wrote maths and 201,000 wrote science.