GOOD Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament

19 January 2023

The GOOD Party celebrates the matric class of 2022, across the country, for their remarkable achievement despite the many challenges they faced during their final years in school.

The 2022 matriculants achieved an overall pass rate of 80.1%.

While most South Africans might have forgotten about the severe impact that the Covid-19 pandemic had on our lives, this group had to deal with the disruptions during their critical academic years of Grade 10 and Grade 11.

On top of that learners had to prepare for the final exams amid rolling power cuts across all nine provinces. This could not have been an easy task, in particular for many matrics who did not have access to any alternative power sources.

We must therefore thank and acknowledge everyone who played a part in supporting the learners to get to where they are today. GOOD also thanks the provincial education departments and the educators for their dedicated time and work with this group, the largest full-time cohort of candidates that sat for the National Senior Certificate Examinations.

While today is a day of joy for many of our young people, we need to also acknowledge that as a country we still owe them, and those who will follow in their footsteps, so much more.

South Africa still faces enormous challenges when it comes to ensuring quality education for all, while our youth unemployment rate remains unacceptably high and a massive concern for many entering the job market this year.

We hope that together with them, we can build a better, more equal and just society for our youth today and our future generations.

We wish the class of 2022 success as they embark on the next part of their personal journey.

Media Enquiries:

Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 0825183264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za

Janke Tolmay, GOOD Media Manager
Cell: 0733671223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za