By Charmaine Ndlela Ngazibini

Unathi Ntungwa, a 17-year-old matriculant from Isikhoba Nombewu Technical Science School in the Eastern Cape, has been honoured for achieving third position in the Technical Science category in the 2025 National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams.

The awards ceremony was held at the Mosaiek Theatre in Fairlands, Johannesburg.

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Speaking moments after being announced as the third-position learner, Ntungwa described the moment as an “unexpected turnout”, when talking to Inside Education, saying she was “shocked but also proud” with the result.  

She received 91% for Technical Sciences, which includes science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. For Technical Maths she scored 86%, for Engineering Graphics and Design 93%, for Civil Technology 92%, and for Life Orientation, 90%.

Ntungwa said she will be studying at the University of Johannesburg, where she will pursue a degree in Civil Engineering, driven by her passion for science and problem-solving.

ALSO READ: WATCH: How floods, a cash crunch and staff shortages couldn’t stop KZN from topping 2025 NSC results

Family support played a crucial role in her success, she said.

Ntungwa said she is thankful to her parents, who prayed for her while she was writing her final exams. She also extended appreciation to those who believed in her, motivated her, and inspired her.

She thanked her teachers for providing past exam papers and helping learners with research.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Lebone Rodah Mosima 

Emthonjeni Juvenile Centre, a correctional school in the Baviaanspoort management area in Gauteng, says it is on the brink of an academic milestone of 10 consecutive years with a 100% matric pass rate, as it awaits the 2025 National Senior Certificate (NSC) results for correctional services schools.

Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald will officially announce the 2025 NSC matric results for correctional services schools on Monday at the Goodwood Correctional Facility in the Western Cape.

ALSO READ: Basic Education assures placement for all learners as schools open

The department said that over the years, correctional services schools have persistently recorded pass rates above the national average.

Emthonjeni said it is has high hopes as it prepares to celebrate “a decade of uninterrupted achievement”.

Specialising in rehabilitation through education, vocational training, and counselling, Emthonjeni has built a reputation for equipping incarcerated youth with the skills needed for reintegration into society.

Principal Kgaume Modiba said he was confident the Class of 2025 would maintain the centre’s record, which he attributed to the dedication of learners and teachers.

“The Class of 2025 represents a special decade of excellence, and we believe they will uphold this legacy,” Modiba said.

The centre’s ambitions extend beyond pass rates, encouraging learners to pursue higher education and qualify for admission, it said.

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Emthonjeni also recognised its 2024 cohort, which achieved a 100% Bachelor pass rate, and said its top learner from that group secured admission to the University of the Witwatersrand.

It said the current matriculants have already applied to various institutions following structured career guidance.

Class representative Tshepo Magagane, who is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence, said his matric journey was a turning point.

“Upon incarceration, completing matric became my primary goal. While some paint Grade 12 as intimidating, fear should never define a learner’s path”, Magagane said.

He said he aimed to secure seven distinctions across all subjects.

“My long-term goal is a career in Information Technology, but I have chosen Logistics as a practical alternative,” he said.

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By Thapelo Molefe

Curro Holdings has reported a 99.4% overall pass rate in the 2025 Independent Examinations Board (IEB) matric examinations.

The results were achieved by 2,694 Curro learners across the Group’s IEB schools.

According to Curro, 72.6% of its IEB candidates obtained an average of 60% or above, while 11.06% achieved an A average. Strong results were recorded in gateway subjects including Mathematics, Physical Sciences and English, which remain critical for admission into science, engineering, commerce and health-related fields.

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Curro said the results reflected the effectiveness of its personalised, learner-centred education model implemented across its various schooling formats. The group added that while the IEB results have been released, some Curro schools write the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations.

Curro Holdings chief executive officer Cobus Loubser congratulated the Class of 2025 and their teachers.

“These results demonstrate the value of personalised learning, dedicated teaching and a school culture that supports both academic achievement and personal development,” Loubser said.

“We aim to produce critical thinkers, confident leaders and responsible citizens who are equipped to succeed in a changing world,” Loubser said.

The group reported that 303 learners, representing 11.25% of its IEB candidates, achieved an A average. In addition, 22 learners from Curro schools were named on the IEB Outstanding Achievement list after achieving top-five-percent results in six or more subjects, alongside a rating level of seven in Life Orientation. These learners were also included on the IEB Commendable Achievement list.

Curro schools further recorded 161 Top 1% subject placements across the IEB examinations.

ALSO READ: Limpopo Education tells flood-hit Vhembe, Mopani schools to delay reopening

Loubser wished the Class of 2025 well as they progress to higher education and the world of work, saying Curro remains committed to producing future-ready learners.

“These learners leave school with problem-solving, collaboration and leadership skills that will enable them to contribute meaningfully to their communities and the broader South African economy,” he said.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Charmaine Ndlela

Learners in Mpumalanga’s Bohlabela District will not return to school as planned after the provincial department of education temporarily suspended classes in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality on Thursday and Friday because of heavy rain.

The department held a meeting with district directors and affected circuit managers on Wednesday, after persistent rains in the Bohlabela District significantly affected teaching and learning activities.

Mpumalanga Department of Education spokesperson Jasper Zwane said that while some learners and teachers managed to reach their schools, many struggled due to flooding and inaccessible roads.

Zwane said schools in the Nkangala and Gert Sibande districts continued with a smooth reopening, with no reported disruptions to daily activities.

In the Ehlanzeni District, school principals have been formally empowered to exercise discretion, guided by on-the-ground assessments, to ensure the safety of learners and staff.

Several schools around Masoyi and Hazyview have also temporarily suspended classes, with parents urged not to send children to school as safety risks remain high, including flooded roads, damaged infrastructure, and dangerous river crossings.

The suspension of classes follows a warning issued by the South African Weather Service (SAWS) on Wednesday, which declared an orange Level 9 weather alert for most parts of eastern Limpopo and Mpumalanga, including areas within the Ehlanzeni District. The district has a long history of flood-related disruptions during peak summer rainfall.

Zwane appealed to community members to remain cautious during the heavy rainfall.

“The department once again urges all community members to remain vigilant and to put safety first. We strongly appeal to everyone not to cross flooded rivers, submerged bridges, or unsafe roads under any circumstances,” he said.

Thousands of pupils across the country returned to classrooms on Wednesday, marking the official start of the 2026 academic year.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Akani Nkuna

Limpopo’s department of education has told parents, teachers and schools in the flood-hit Vhembe and Mopani districts not to reopen schools on Wednesday, warning that heavy rains have created dangerous conditions and disrupted key services, including school meals and scholar transport.

The department said the rains and flooding had affected the delivery of food to schools and added that scholar transport vehicles could also face difficulties.

ALSO READ: WATCH: How floods, a cash crunch and staff shortages couldn’t stop KZN from topping 2025 NSC results

“The Department wishes to inform parents, guardians and teachers in the affected two districts to take caution and not reopen schools [on Wednesday]. This is to ensure the safety of learners and educators within the affected areas,” the department said.

“The department will advise when it is suitable for schooling to resume in the affected areas.”

The warning came after heavy rains caused major disruptions across the two districts, with videos shared on social media showing water flowing above bridges and the destruction of gravel roads, leaving villagers stranded and unable to travel to the nearest towns.

The South African Weather Service has issued a level 9 warning for Wednesday, which the department said meant heavy rains were expected to persist into the weekend.

Citing heightened risks to younger children, especially those in the early grades, the department said it would closely monitor the situation and dispatch a disaster management team.

A concerned parent, Nsovo Ndlovu from Ngove outside Giyani, told Inside Education she was worried about the continuing downpours, saying they had dampened her young boy’s excitement about returning to school.

 He could not travel because of damaged roads and flooding, said Ndlovu.

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Working in Giyani town as a hairdresser, Ndlovu said she had suffered significant income losses because she was unable to travel to work, and feared the ongoing rainfall would leave her financially stretched for the rest of January.

“It is quite sad, the timing of this rain is off. This week with many people going back to work and students back to school, hairdressers stood to make a substantial income, but we have missed on all that because of this rain,” she said.

“A lot of preparations had gone into making sure that the reopening of schools was special for my son, with a new uniform for a new grade. He was going to rekindle with friends he last saw last year, but now he has to wait a much longer. He is also disappointed. But hopefully this rain stops soon and our lives back to normal.”

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Lebone Rodah Mosima 

Maria Freercks, 18, a pupil at Collegiate Girls’ High School in Gqeberha, has been named among South Africa’s top 40 achievers in the 2025 National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams, and is now setting her sights on a future in medicine.

She placed second nationally in Quintile 5 and was recognised as the Eastern Cape’s top learner.

Her parents, Lisa and Robert Freercks, told Inside Education they were proud of her achievement and the work that went into earning a place in the Top 40.

ALSO READ: WATCH: How floods, a cash crunch and staff shortages couldn’t stop KZN from topping 2025 NSC results

The Freercks family said Maria’s success was not only academic, but also rooted in faith.

“Just following the Lord’s path for her. The Lord’s given her amazing gifts and she embraced them, and we’re just excited to see where she takes that path,” Mrs Freercks said.

They said her commitment to excellence had been clear throughout her schooling.

“She continues to give her best in all things, which is what she’s done today,” the couple agreed.

Freercks, from Collegiate Girls’ High School in the Nelson Mandela Bay district, achieved seven distinctions, including 99.3% for Mathematics and 98% for Music.

She said her results reflected a year of steady effort and disciplined study.

“I studied hard. But I think consistency is key and I think starting from term one [helped]. In every little step of the way, study hard and try your best at everything that you can,” Freercks said.

Her subject choices included English Home Language, Afrikaans First Additional Language, Pure Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, Life Orientation and Music.

She said she prepared by working consistently throughout the year, rather than relying on last-minute studying.

One of her biggest challenges was time management, as she balanced academics with sport, cultural activities, and leadership roles at school.

Despite the pressure, she said she relied on past exam papers, school resources, and support from teachers.

“Collegiate was brilliant with its teachers, and you could always go to them for help. So the resources provided by the school really helped,” she said.

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Freercks also praised her parents’ support, describing them as “positive and encouraging” throughout her matric year.

Looking ahead, she hopes to study at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She encouraged current matric pupils to work hard while maintaining balance.

“Don’t focus solely on academics, but involve yourself in other aspects of the school, such as sports and culture,” she said.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Simon Nare

The Department of Basic Education has assured parents and the nation that all unplaced learners will be allocated schools when learning begins on Wednesday.

Minister Siviwe Gwarube’s spokesperson, Luvuyo Vangqa, told Inside Politics that provinces are making steady progress in clearing placement backlogs.

He said learner placement figures change daily and provinces have committed to accommodating all learners as schools reopen for the 2026 academic year.

“It might not always be the parent’s school of choice due to extremely high demand in certain areas. However, we are encouraged by the progress shown by provinces as they address the backlog,” Vangqa said.

As of Tuesday, January 6, Gauteng’s online admissions system recorded 4,858 unplaced Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners — comprising 1,381 Grade 1 and 3,477 Grade 8 learners.

Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane said the figures reflected sustained progress in learner placement for the 2026 academic year.

“This represents approximately 1.5% of the total 358,574 complete applications received for 2026, which include 175,792 Grade 1 and 182,782 Grade 8 applicants,” Chiloane said.

He added that placement and transfer offers are being released daily, supported by targeted interventions in high-pressure districts.

“The department continues to work to ensure that all remaining learners are placed as efficiently and fairly as possible, in line with regulated admissions criteria and available school capacity,” he said.

Chiloane noted that most unplaced learners are concentrated in urban areas, where population growth and infrastructure constraints continue to strain school capacity.

Ekurhuleni currently has the highest number of unplaced learners, followed by Johannesburg, Tshwane, Sedibeng and the West Rand. Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg remain priority districts for placement.

During the late application period, which opened on December 17, 2025, a total of 11,183 applications were received and processed.

Meanwhile, the Western Cape reported about 7,200 unplaced learners, while Mpumalanga said more than 9,800 learners still require placement.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Thapelo Molefe

KwaZulu-Natal overcame years of financial pressure, damaging floods, and persistent staffing shortages to finish as South Africa’s top-performing province in the 2025 National Senior Certificate results with a 90.6% pass rate – up from 89.52% in 2024.

It overtook the Free State for first place and also delivered six of the country’s top 10 districts, including uMkhanyakude, one of South Africa’s most rural areas.

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Last year was a turbulent year for education in the province.

Severe floods damaged school infrastructure in several areas, compounding long-standing budget pressures that have limited the department’s ability to appoint teachers, repair facilities and procure learning and teaching support materials.

By March 2025, the KZN Department of Education had already overspent its budget, triggering partial administration and urgent interventions by the national government.

The province’s leadership credits its performance to a deliberate focus on disadvantaged schools and sustained commitment from educators, learners, and parents across socio-economic divides.

“We have a plan, which we call the academic improvement plan, with six pillars,” according to KZN Department of Education head Dr Nkosinathi Ngcobo.

“It’s a simple plan that is followed by all our schools, which gives strategic guidance on what needs to be done.”

“We are focusing on rural and township schools unapologetically, in terms of assisting them with resources and support,” he said.

The strategy, he said, was beginning to yield visible results across the province. 

“Our rural districts are performing even better than some of the districts which are in urban areas across the country,” Ngcobo said.

“uMkhanyakude District is in the deepest rural areas, but it’s in the top two in the country. It’s the fruit of our focus on previously disadvantaged schools.”

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He said the department’s emphasis on no-fee schools was informed by where the bulk of learners are located. 

“We realised that this is where the majority of learners are – the Quintile 1, 2 and 3 schools – and that is where support must be directed,” Ngcobo said.

Ngcobo acknowledged that financial pressures remained the department’s most persistent obstacle, with far-reaching consequences across the system.

“When you have financial challenges, you can’t appoint staff, you can’t repair infrastructure on time, and even your audit outcomes are affected because you don’t have managers in place,” he said.

“When you separate them, it looks like many challenges, but in fact it’s one challenge with many facets.”

Despite these constraints, Ngcobo said the province had leaned heavily on its human capital. 

“In spite of the limited resources that we have, the main resource we have is our teachers,” he said. “No one would expect that we would be number one in the country under these conditions, but it’s focus, focus, focus.”

He added that criticism of the department had been used as motivation rather than distraction. 

“We shut out the noise, but we listen to our critics and we improve. In fact, they are the fuel that fuels our passion and our resolve to turn around the narrative that achievement is the preserve of the privileged.”

Private-sector and civil society partnerships also played a role in supporting schools. Ngcobo cited organisations such as the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) and VVOB among several partners working with the department. 

“There are many partners from the private sector who have taken an interest in the KZN Department of Education, and we share this success with them. They have contributed to where we are today,” he said.

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Education Siphosihle Hlomuka echoed this view, attributing the results to collective effort rather than isolated pockets of excellence.

“The main reason is the commitment from our educators, the officials at district and head office level, our learners and their parents,” Hlomuka said.

“Education is a social challenge. It needs everyone to work together.”

He said the fact that six KZN districts ranked in the national top 10 showed that improvement was spread across the province.

“It’s not about one district. It’s about education across KwaZulu-Natal,” he said.

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The national NSC pass rate was 88%. Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube said this was evidence that “excellence” was becoming entrenched in township and rural schools. She noted that more than 66% of bachelor passes were achieved by learners from no-fee schools, including districts such as uMkhanyakude and Umlazi. 

“Poverty is not destiny,” Gwarube said, adding that strong districts and sustained support were key to narrowing historical performance gaps.

INSIDE EDUCATION