The Gauteng legislature has welcomed the 2018 matric results and congratulated the province's class for securing top spot in the country, with an 87.9% pass rate.

Gauteng Portfolio Committee on Education chairperson Joe Mpisi congratulated the work of the Department of Education and MEC Panyaza Lesufi.

"The committee is satisfied with the culture of learning and teaching that went well in the year 2018, and throughout we saw evidence that our schools were working tirelessly to prepare learners to be ready for the exams," said Mpisi.  

Get your 2018 results on News24's matric results page.

He also congratulated the school governing bodies, as well as parents, for their participation in their children's education, by ensuring that schools were running smooth and effectively.

"We congratulate the learners who dedicated their time, efforts and energy in studying very hard to ensure that they achieve success in their academic year with flying colours. Equally, we congratulate the educators for their hard work in preparing learners for the exams through the year," he said.

However, Mpisi has called on parents not to participate in activities that would disrupt learning and teaching in schools during the 2019 academic year.

He added that, while much had been done to improve the pass rate in the province, more work needed to be done.

On Thursday evening, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced the overall 2018 pass rate, with progressed pupils included, was 78.2%. This was an improvement of 3.1 percentage points from the 75.1% achieved in 2017.