North West Matric Results- Resilience Rooted in Our Communities

For several consecutive years, the North West Province has recorded consistent National Senior Certificate (NSC) outcomes, as reflected in the annual releases of the Department of Basic Education. This performance is notable not because the province enjoys favourable socio-economic conditions, but precisely because it does not. Across Ngaka Modiri Molema, Bojanala, Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati, and Dr Kenneth Kaunda Districts, learners continue to succeed despite structural poverty, rural isolation, and limited household resources.

In villages and townships from Lomanyaneng, Tlakgameng, and Madibogo to Rustenburg, Jouberton, and Kanana, many learners walk long distances to school, study in overcrowded classrooms, and return home to households grappling with unemployment and food insecurity. These conditions are well documented in national poverty and labour statistics. Yet, each year, matriculants from these communities emerge with results that confirm a simple truth. That ability is evenly distributed, even when opportunity is not.

The strength of the province’s matric performance lies in its communities. In Ngaka Modiri Molema District, where rural schools dominate the landscape, educators often carry heavy workloads while families provide non-material support, discipline, encouragement, and high expectations. In Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District, where many households depend on social grants and subsistence farming, learners have demonstrated that educational commitment can coexist with economic hardship and thrive.

In Bojanala District, the contrast between mining-driven urban centres and surrounding informal settlements highlights inequality within the same geographic space. Yet schools in townships and villages continue to produce learners who compete nationally for university admission and skills training opportunities. Similarly, Dr Kenneth Kaunda District, shaped by both industrial decline and urban pressure, has shown that historical economic shifts do not erase the aspirations of young people determined to succeed.

These outcomes are not a denial of the province’s challenges. Infrastructure backlogs, teacher shortages in key subjects, and learner support gaps remain real and unresolved. Government bears a constitutional obligation to address these systematically. However, the North West experience underscores another reality, that development is unsustainable without community agency. Progress has occurred where families remain engaged, educators remain committed, and learners take ownership of their education, even when circumstances are harsh.

The lesson from these matric results is broader than education. They speak to the capacity of the people of the North West to rise beyond dependency, to build resilience outside of state structures, and to recognise that long-term growth begins with collective responsibility. While the state must improve service delivery, communities cannot afford to wait passively for solutions.

As the 2025 matric cohort moves forward into universities, TVET colleges, learnerships, entrepreneurship, and the world of work, they do so as representatives of communities that have refused to surrender to despair. Their success is a reminder that the future of the North West will not be defined solely by policy documents or budget allocations, but by the determination of its people to shape their own lives.

To the matriculants, congratulations. Your achievement affirms the enduring strength of our province. May your journey ahead be guided by the same resilience that carried you this far. By Mothusi Shupinyane, Chairman of Mo Media