The untold story of KZN’s historic matric victory

How collaboration and commitment led to unprecedented success

- THAMI MAGUBANE and SIPHESIHLE BUTHELEZI

EDUCATION stakeholders have detailed the many sacrifices and interventions made, including teachers having to sleep at school, that led to KwaZulu-Natal being crowned the best performer in the country in the 2025 National Senior Certificate results.

Education stakeholders spoke to The Mercury yesterday about the practical initiatives implemented by schools that enabled the country’s most rural province to surpass the Free State to clinch the top spot and a 90.6% pass rate. They noted that in some schools, principals and teachers went as far as sleeping at schools during camps to ensure learners were supported.

Department officials, members of the education portfolio committee, and school principals praised the collaboration between pupils, teachers, and parents, saying it has been fundamental to the province's consistent improvement.

Emmanuel Duma, principal of Sibusisiwe Comprehensive Technical High School in uMbumbulu, emphasised that discipline among pupils, teachers, and parents is central to the performance of schools. “The reason the province has achieved this success is thanks to the discipline shown by the parents, the teachers, and the pupils towards their schoolwork”

His school achieved a 100 percent pass rate for the third consecutive year.