Speaker, the ANC congratulates government for the continuous, consistent and seamless upward trend in the improvement of the matric results as well as the sterling performance of the class of 2012. The performance of the matriculants has been consistently improving for the past four years.
The ANC believes that it is through collective efforts by learners, teachers, parents, civil society bodies and teacher unions that our country continues to improve learner performance throughout the schooling system.
However, the results for 2012 also indicate that much more still needs to be done to overcome the challenges we face in education. Therefore, given that education is a societal issue, we urge parents and the communities to continuously participate in the day-to-day development of children and to ensure the success of their schools.
The ANC commits itself to continuously improving teaching and learning environments in schools. It still reiterates that teachers must be in school, in class, on time, teaching for at least seven hours a day, and calls on learners to dedicate themselves to their studies so that they can become productive members of society.
We, the ANC, welcome this progress in matric results. I thank you, Mr Speaker. [Applause.]