Drama and joy
Top achievements make Chris Hani district proud
THE matric exams were marked by little drama and some top achievements in the Chris Hani district in 2017. Listed among the top-50 performing schools in the Eastern Cape were, both with 100% pass rates, Queenstown Girls’ High School (22nd) and Tarka High School (28th). Queen’s College was 48th, with a 98.7% pass rate.
It was the 26th consecutive 100% pass for GHS which also boasted the top pupil in the Chris Hani West district in Mikayla Boy, who achieved seven distinctions. The 101 pupils achieved 200 subject As and boasted 14 A aggregates.
Newly appointed principal Theo Anaxagoras said, “I am delighted and wish to pay full credit to the people who have been functioning here over the past few years. Parents and others have told me that the staff and management have been superb and have put mechanisms in place for the girls to perform optimally.”
There were also 88 bachelor passes and 12 diploma passes.
Kiran Jomon of Queen’s College was second in the district and eight pupils obtained A aggregates.
The Chris Hani West district – which includes schools in Komani, Cacadu and Tarkastad, improved its pass rate from 62.1% to 67.9% while the Chris Hani East district – which involves schools in the Cofimvaba and Tsomo areas – improved from 52.8% to 61.8%.
All 17 pupils at Isivivane Senior Secondary School in Cacadu failed, making it the second-worst performing school in the province. The department has indicated that it will be investigating.
Bulelani Senior Secondary School principal Sonwabo Silo was in a jubilant mood after celebrating a massive increase of 14% from a 66% pass rate last year to 82%. The school also recorded 67 bachelor passes.
Silo attributed the improved results to hardworking staff, parental support and assistance from the education department.
He said JENN, a Bloemfontein-based programme which assisted with catering and stipends to teachers and pupils to make extra classes over weekends and afternoons possible, had also made a positive contribution, as did the turnaround strategy decided upon by the school at the start of last year. Silo praised the school’s SGB for
their consistent support.
He said the school, housed in the former Ikhala premises in Ezibeleni, was excited about the long-awaited construction of its new building which was currently under way.
It was anticipated that the staff and pupils of Bulelani would move into the new school in 2019.
At Hoërskool Hangklip, the matric class of 2017 obtained a 96.8% pass rate. The top achiever, Courinn Pretorius, had an average of 86.3%, followed by Kayme du Preez (85.7%). Four pupils achieved A aggregates and there were 16 B averages with 60 A symbols.
At Hexagon High School, a 94.7% pass rate was commended by principal Malcolm Lentoor who praised the teachers and pupils for their hard work and the SGB and parents for their support.
He said peer group teaching and counselling had assisted the matrics as they faced the tough challenges. The school obtained 59 bachelor passes.
The pass rate at Royal Academy dropped from 73.7% to 62.9% in 2017 while Maria Louw High School showed a slight drop from 85.9% in 2016 to 84.6% last year.
The pass rate at Get Ahead increased from 82.3% to 90.3% with Mariette Visser of the school saying the school was proud of the achievement.
Top achievers were Liso Bekebu with four distinctions and Fortunate Moyo with three. The school obtained 30 distinctions overall.
John Noah High School principal Samkelo Maka was not happy with the school’s 45% pass rate – an improvement on last year’s 26.4% – which fell short of the school’s 70% target.
Maka said the Education Department’s policy of progressing pupils when they had not passed affected the standard of matriculants.
The school had 60 pupils but only 27 passed. Out of the 27, five passed with a bachelor pass, 12 with a diploma and 10 with a higher certificate. A total of 21 pupils qualified to write supplementary exams.
KwaKomani Comprehensive School principal Cozoma Tyalimpi attributed the 9.2% pass rate drop – from 73.9% to 64.75% – to various internal factors.
Teachers and pupils would do everything in their power to improve the results this year.
“The school had so much going on in the past year, such as losing a principal and redeployment which caused uncertainty among staff. All this affected the performance of staff and pupils and it shows in the results.
“We are already drafting a turnaround strategy that will help us improve this year. We will have ongoing morning and weekend classes.”
The school achieved 38 distinctions with Ntombizintle Sikolongo achieving three.
Stutterheim High School showed a slight drop from 98% to 95% while Funda High School in Whittlesea showed a vast improvement from 57.9% to 82.6%.
The results of WB Rubusana High School in Ezibeleni improved from a 61.2% pass rate to 72.3%, while Cathcart High School faced a drop from 98.3% to 93.3%. Luvuyo Lerumo High School showed a slight improvement from 43.1% to 44.2%.
In Molteno, Joe Slovo Freedom High School improved from 51% to 78.9% while Siyaphakama High School from Sterkstroom improved from 77.3% to 80.6%.
Three of the province’s top achievers came from previously disadvantaged rural schools.
Phikolomzi Mjikelwa of St James Senior Secondary School, Mphoentle Piliso of Cofimvaba SSS and Reamohetse Mofitiso of Lehana SSS in Mount Fletcher were listed among the top 25 national achievers.
Mjikelwa was placed third in maths and science on national level, was third in quintile 3 schools and first at a historically disadvantaged institution (HDI) in the province. Piliso, who obtained seven distinctions, was second in quintile 3 nationally and third overall in the Eastern Cape.
He said school had been “his life” and that he would study actuarial science at UCT.
Principal Josephina Kopano said this year’s matrics were disciplined and cooperated, resulting in an improved result from 87.5% to 96.2%.
St James Senior Secondary in Cofimvaba had five top pupils who were honoured at the gala dinner by MEC Mandla Makupula and East Cape premier Phumulo Masualle.
Sphathise Ntalo was rewarded for being second in HDI in cluster A, Phikolomzi Mjikewa was first in Top HDI in the province, Sonke Ludwele was second in the top learner category in Chris Hani East, Abongile Tom as the top pupil in Chris Hani East and Awongile Ngxanga took third place in cluster B. Siyavuya Duda of Freemantle SSS was the top pupil in the Chris Hani West district in the HDI category.
Duda said, “I created more space and time to study and that is how I managed to do well. I will be doing a BCom accounting degree at UCT this year.”
Principal Vuyisile Cele said the school’s results improved from 86.5% in 2016 to 95.32% in 2017, mainly due to extra classes offered by teachers. The Freemantle Old Boys’ Association had played a pivotal role in keeping matrics motivated.
Cacadu’s Thozamisa Senior Secondary School principal Mlandeli Bokweni was impressed with an improved pass rate from 46.2% to 79.2% with four distinctions.
Bokweni commended the staff, pupils, parents, local business owners and the education department for their support.