'We were extremely concerned about you': Angie Motshekga tells top 2022 matrics

The country's top matric achievers for 2022 were honoured in Johannesburg on Thursday during a ministerial breakfast.

Minister of basic education Angie Motshekga said the department had been extremely worried about this matric cohort.

“You were in grade 10 when we were hit by the Covid-19 storm and when we sent learners back to school that year, you were the last group to go back to school. So we were really concerned about you,” Motshekga told the top achievers. 

The minister said for the department to gush over the top pupils and go to town exalting their exploits was not an act of vanity but of affirmation that public schooling was not broken, but was a system on the rise.

“Therefore, for the cynics, a matric certificate is not just a piece of paper; it has high value far beyond what one can comprehend today in a single Tweet or Facebook post.

“It is the only nationally recognised certificate after studying for 12 years in primary and secondary schooling.

“It opens doors to the post-schooling sector, bursaries for top learners and even short-term employment opportunities,” Motshekga said.

The top 30 achievers do not know yet which subjects they did well in. They will only find out on Thursday evening . 

“We are rubbing shoulders with the best of our country. We come here to celebrate the best of the best. It’s not easy. It was tough.

“You are among the best that we have. You are the group that we were extremely worried about. You have emerged victorious and stood firm against adversity,” said Motshekga.

The minister said the state school sector serves over 12-million pupils across the country but is often criticised and perceived as the “Cinderella” of the education sector.

“Yet, year after year, we prove our mettle and produce learners that fill all available first-year vacancies at universities, universities of technology and public colleges and excel.

“Not a single year has the post-schooling sector been short of first-year students, bearing in mind that only those with matric exemption get to universities,” she said.

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