Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi wants to see a 90-percent matric pass rate this year.
The 2018 pass rate was 87-percent.
Lesufi has now made senior managers in his department sign performance agreements to achieve this.
Matric pupils are participating in a three-day-programme to improve their chances of going to institutions of higher learning.
The provincial education department has allocated about R240-million for the programme.
Currently, 70,000 pupils are enrolled in it.
“Our children are no longer competing with children from other provinces and I am sorry if this sounds arrogant but they are competing with the world,” said Lesufi who was addressing matric pupils at TUT where they’re participating in an additional study programme.
“It’s very important that they start to play in that space.
Only three months remain until the pupils begin writing preliminary exams and in another five so it is crunch time for final exams.
