Head gets tick of approval for getting results
CROSSMOOR Secondary School’s 10-year 100% matric pass-rate streak has won recognition for its principal.
Vinay Motheeram was one of the Chatsworth school headmasters honoured at the B Mandraj Memorial Appreciation Awards this week.
The ceremony is a yearly event created in 2007 by Umlazi sector manager Shobana Mandraj in memory of her dad, activist Badri Mandraj.
Mandraj said the inspiration for the awards ceremony was to carry on the tradition, which both of her parents initiated when she was younger.
“Education meant a great deal to my parents and they would sponsor awards to honour those who worked hard in the field in the Pietermaritzburg area.
“Education was foremost in my father’s mind. Even though we had financial constraints, he and my mother, Laxmi, would sponsor that out of their own pockets.”
Mandraj said the event served to acknowledge “those who serve disadvantaged communities but still manage to excel”.
Other awards handed out at the event included for the school with the most improved results, for 100% performance last year, and the school with the top outstanding stu-
Our success really comes down to the diligence and vigilance of both our teachers and our pupils
dents — the latter going to Marklands Secondary School.
Motheeram said that the award, although a great privilege, served to remind him and his staff about the importance of remaining steadfast in their dedication to their pupils.
“Our success really comes down to the diligence and vigilance of both our teachers and our pupils.
“It is tiring at times, but that is, of course, why we got into this field,” said Motheeram.
Provincial education department head Nkosinathi Sishi addressed the event, promising to adopt the award as a departmental project.
Sishi said he consid- ered Chatsworth a “model for educational excellence in the province” and that there was no school in the area that did not deserve to be mentioned.
Sishi said he would be reviewing the contentious issue surrounding the quintile rankings this year and re-evaluating the system.
“We know that quintile rankings are not fully correct. There may be schools which are ranked in either quintile four or five that are filled with children from disadvantaged backgrounds.”