Silikamva High School's journey from 40% to 100% matric pass rate

In a packed school hall in Hout Bay, the atmosphere was thick with nerves, pride and disbelief as the Class of 2025 at Silikamva High School waited for their matric results.

For many of the learners, this hall had been a place of pressure just weeks earlier, rows of desks filling the space as final exams loomed. On results day, it became the setting for history: a 100% matric pass rate, the first since the school opened its doors in 2013.

For a Quintile 3 no-fee school serving the informal settlement of Imizamo Yethu, the milestone carries weight far beyond percentages.

In 2019, Silikamva’s matric pass rate stood at just over 40%. Six years later, the turnaround tells a story of consistency, discipline and an unrelenting focus on learning in the face of deep socio-economic challenges.

Principal Siphathisiwe Nkahla-Nkohla described the results as a defining moment for the school and its community. “The results are quite an achievement for us. Our pass rate was around 40% in 2019, but it has been going up, so this is a big one,” she said.

She credits the improvement to a deliberate culture shift. “The secret to our success is making the learners know that education matters. Our teachers are phenomenal and are always here working. Seeing them over the weekends is a norm at our school, so we have been able to adopt a true culture of learning.”

That culture is underpinned by relentless self-assessment. At the start of every year, the school sets its sights on a 100% pass rate. “We look at our data at the end of every term and analyse our results to see where we are going wrong and which subjects aren’t doing so well, so we can come up with strategies to improve,” Nkahla-Nkohla said.

The data shows steady gains. By March and June last year, the Grade 12 cohort was achieving a 100% pass rate in internal assessments. A dip to 98% in September tested nerves, but belief never wavered. “We were still hopeful, but now getting 100% is amazing,” she said.

Beyond the numbers lie the realities of Imizamo Yethu, one of Cape Town’s most socio-economically marginalised communities. According to Census 2011 data, nearly 80% of households reported monthly incomes of R3 200 or less, with fewer than a quarter living in formal housing. Overcrowding, unemployment and vulnerability to fires and service-delivery disruptions are part of daily life.

“These children face a lot,” the principal said. “We have learners from child-headed households, and teenage pregnancy is rife. We’ve managed to bring it down to only about ten learners, but it was a lot before. Some live in a shack with seven or eight other people and don’t even have a desk.”

For many parents, long working hours make it impossible to provide academic support at home. “There are many cases where a single parent leaves very early in the morning and returns late at night. That’s why we offer whatever support we can to keep learners busy at school as much as possible,” she said. “Our teachers are mothers and fathers here. The school is a safe space.”

The Class of 2025 results reflect not just access, but quality. The cohort achieved a bachelor’s pass rate of 76%, earned 75 subject distinctions, and recorded a 100% pass rate in eight subjects, including Physical Science. These outcomes place Silikamva well above the average for Quintile 3 schools in the province, where the overall matric pass rate was 84.3% and the bachelor’s pass rate 38.9% in 2025.

For head prefect Emilhe Jullies, the results mark both an ending and a beginning. “I’m very excited and proud of my classmates. This hall used to seem so big during the exams because of all the desks and the pressure,” she said. “We had a lot of stress, but we pulled through. Our teachers encouraged us to remember why we were at school, and here we are today with a 100% pass rate.”

Jullies had not yet checked her individual marks, choosing instead to wait for her official statement. Her focus is firmly on what comes next. “I really want to get out of Imizamo Yethu because there are a lot of things happening here. I’m praying that universities and NSFAS fund me so I can stay in residence. I want to go to school.”

She has applied for nursing and civil engineering, driven by both demand and determination. “I’m a hard worker and would love to make money for my family,” she said.

Western Cape Minister of Education David Maynier hailed the achievement as proof that sustained improvement is possible. He said the school’s focus on discipline, motivation, continuous improvement and community partnerships had paid off. “For the first time since the school was founded, the matric Class of 2025 achieved a pass rate of 100%. This is a massive achievement for a no-fee school serving a disadvantaged community,” he said.

Province-wide, the Western Cape recorded strong district performances, with two districts exceeding 90% pass rates and all districts scoring above 80%. Improvements were also seen across no-fee school quintiles, with Quintile 1, 2 and 3 bachelor’s pass rates now exceeding that of Quintile 4 — a sign that historically under-resourced schools are closing the quality gap.

The Western Cape Class of 2025 has delivered the highest matric pass rate and bachelors pass rate ever for our province.

Maynier said the matric pass rate increased from last year’s record-breaking 86.6% to 88.2%..

Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube announced that the country had made history with the national pass rate of 88 % percent, with KwaZulu-Natal achieving 90.6 percent.

Abigail Kok, from York High School in George, is the Class of 2025’s top candidate in the country, and the top candidate in Physical Science, marking the 5th year in a row for the top candidate to hail from the Western Cape.

Takunda Muchuweni, from Jan Kriel School in Kuils River, is the top LSEN candidate in South Africa.

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