In loco parentis
Port Alfred High’s life orientation educator Richard Herrington made a moving comment when amid the euphoria of a 100% matric pass achieved in his subject, said at the results hand over at the school hall: “I sometimes get home and I am broken myself when I see what the children have to go through”.
Teachers have to impart knowledge in classrooms filled with ambition and, sometimes, despair.
Herrington was referring to difficulties young adults have to negotiate outside the classroom be they family problems, peer pressure, health issues, or anxious decision-making about a future career; while having to deal with the weight of expectation placed on their young shoulders.
Teachers are caught in the middle and are moved to divide their time between imparting knowledge and counselling pupils. It is a tough juggling act.
So, while champagne corks are popped with news that the provincial pass rate for the matric class of 2023 has risen to 81.4%, spare a thought for the teachers behind the scenes.
PAHS headmaster Nigel Adams reminded an audience of parents, teachers and pupils in the school hall last week that: “We focus too much on grade 12s but it’s those teachers in the foundation phase, the intermediate phase who have laid the platform for the matrics’ success … so I say all teachers should be congratulated”.
Nine subjects taught at PAHS recorded a 100% matric pass mark for 2023.
The achievement as astonishing as it is, points to an all-round commitment from both pupils and teachers, with parents too playing a crucial supplementary role.
Whether it’s Kuyasa Combined School with its 95.4% matric pass mark for 2023, and who produced the two top achievers for the second year in a row for the Sarah Baartman district, or, Alfred Nzo district, which achieved an 85.2% pass, doff a hat to the teachers who helped matrics get the job done. Alfred Nzo East, Alfred Nzo West and Chris Hani East are the top performing districts in the province.
Though El Shaddai Christian Academy pupils achieved a 100% mark for the school, some pupils said outside pressures made for a tough academic year.
El Shaddai principal Renee Payne and the school focus on life lessons, mentoring the pupils on the values of life and how to cope with it.
PAHS’ top achievers Lithitha Gobane (dux) and Alyson van de Merwe said the help and support of teachers had been the difference.
Adams drove home his 2023 motto “team work is dream work”. This philosophy drove PA High School to achieve a 98.6 pass rate overall with 69 pupils having sat for year-end exams.
Kuyasa Combined School principal Xolani Mayana said teachers would mentor pupils, targeting their weaknesses. They worked in tandem with parents to ensure pupils gave of their best.
There were also extra classes and study camps throughout the year. These contributed to a 100% pass rate in mathematics and life sciences and 90.1% in physical science.
Headmasters such as Mayana and Adams should be roundly applauded for their inspiration and leadership.
As the burden of expectation on young adult matric pupils grows each year, it is clear that teachers have had to add an extra string to their bow – that of counsellor.
Teachers have had to sensitise themselves to outside pressures faced by young adults that can have a huge impact on their academic year, if not addressed.
As PAHS’s Welington Makoni said: “It is difficult but we always strive to be a family school. But we make sure we support them [pupils] as much as we can. We become their parents away from home.”