The recently released 2024 National Senior Certificate results have highlighted the success of secondary schools where strong leadership is creating a change.
While South Africa’s national matric pass rate for 2024 stands at its highest ever of 87.3%, many questions are being asked on how this was achieved. Skeptics and cynics abound, however this is a valid query – how can the education system replicate this success without understanding the contributing factors behind it?
Much review and analysis of the results will take place over the coming weeks and months, however for Citizen Leader Lab, a well-known leadership development organisation operating in the education space, one of the clear contributing factors to this success is school leadership.
Succes stories on the ground
In Johannesburg, Sandringham High, a school that largely serves learners from Alexandra, one of the poorest urban areas in the country, achieved a 93.8% pass rate, reflecting a significant increase of 30.4% from 2023’s pass rate of 63.4%. The school’s principal, Pascal Rikhotso, believes his own development as a leader has contributed to this vast improvement.
“This journey has allowed me to build a school that values teamwork and encourages inclusivity with the teachers, parents and the community. By improving my leadership, I’ve been able to create an atmosphere where teachers feel holistically supported. As a former science and technology HOD, I know that teacher motivation and morale are the main catalysts for learner success. All this resulted in the teachers, with the help of parents, coming together to provide holiday classes for the matrics. I can already sense the excitement among learners, parents and teachers about what we can achieve together in 2025.”
Lungisa Secondary, a quintile 3 school located in the township of Kwadwesi in Gqeberha, achieved an impressive 99.1% pass rate. Just three years ago, the school’s pass rate stood at a dismal 21%.
Echoing the sentiments of principal Rikhotso, Principal Thabo Mapena expressed how growing as a leader has helped turn his school around after he joined Citizen Leader Lab’s leadership development and support programme in 2023. “I inherited Lungisa when it was unfortunately a non-performing school. But being part of this programme completely changed my perspective on leadership and management, and it has reshaped the entire school. The biggest change was my willingness to collaborate with educators instead of taking a top-down approach. As soon as I started embracing this approach, I could see the difference. Slowly but surely, I gained the buy-in and support of the teachers. I believe this is what led to our success: The educators feel supported and heard, so they are willing to go above and beyond for our learners. For example, they organised after-school programmes for the matrics, even though they aren’t paid for it. They are also punctual and enthusiastic to give back.”
CEO of Citizen Leader Lab, Komala Pillay, said: ‘We have been overwhelmed over the last few days to hear the celebrations from schools across the country. From Limpopo to KZN to the Western Cape, schools are celebrating the results of the significant effort that they made in 2024 to support the success of matric learners. These achievements demonstrate what is possible when school principals are equipped with the right tools and support to lead.’’
www.citizenleaderlab.org
