The Municipal Outreach Project, a development programme managed by the South African Institute of Race Relations, has released a municipal breakdown of the 2008 matric results.

Nthamaga Kgafela, the Municipal Outreach Officer for the project said that, “when matric results are viewed on district level, variations between various municipal districts become quite stark; even amongst districts with similar socio-economic standing.” A perfect example of this is the results for the Nylstroom (Modimolle) and Warmbad (Bela Bela) districts in the Waterberg region of the Limpopo province. Nylstroom had a pass rate of 91.85%, while Warmbad had a pass rate of 52.69% in 2008.

Kgafela said that, “Although the Department of Education holds these districts accountable for the performance of the individual schools that fall under their jurisdiction, the municipalities have limited say in implementation which may hinder the quality of education, and thus the ability of matriculants to enter tertiary institutions and find adequate employment. This impacts directly on the ability of these municipalities to meet socio-economic targets, and eventually eradicate poverty.”

The Municipal Outreach Project is aimed at capacity building of municipalities in order to reduce poverty in South Africa’s districts. To get more information about the Municipal Outreach Project, contact Nthamaga Kgafela on:

                E-mail:nkgafela@sairr.org.za