How schools fared
Pleasure, pain and determination to do better
The top 2018 matric pupil in the Chris Hani West District was Vela Magida of Queen’s College, who achieved a 91% aggregate. The school entered 96 candidates, of whom five, Magida, Joshua Green (87%), Nathanael Thomas
(84%), Mihlali Tyaliti (83%) and Sarath Simon
(80%), achieved A aggregates. In addition 63 received bachelor’s passes, 27 diploma passes and there were five with senior certificates.
Headmaster Janse van der Ryst said he was very happy with the five A aggregates, especially the result achieved by Magida.
“This just shows that if you are driven, work hard and have high aspirations you can really achieve, though I also thank the staff for their dedication and hard work,” he said.
Magida, who says his best subjects were physics, maths and accounting, plans to study medicine at Stellenbosch University.
“My mother is a doctor and has been a great inspiration to me as I would like to give back to the underprivileged people in the community,” he says.
Hangklip High School principal Abré Wagener said: “The 2018 matric results confirm that Hangklip is one of the beacons of effective and functional schooling.”
The school’s top matric was Charissa Roets, who obtained an aggregate of 80.2%, with distinctions in Afrikaans first language, English first additional language, life orientation, physical science and computer application technology.The school had a
95.3% pass rate and 75.6% obtained bachelor’s passes.
Queenstown Girls’ High School’s matric class obtained the magical 100% pass rate for the 27th year in succession, one of only 43 schools in the province to achieve this exceptional result. Of the 101 candidates, 95 obtained bachelor’s passes, 15 had A aggregates and the class obtained 185 subject distinctions.
The Dux, Sarah Conroy, obtained seven subject distinctions and was invited to attend the Education Department’s Top Achievers’ awards ceremony. She was placed second in the Chris Hani West District with an aggregate of 90.14%.
Principal Theo Anaxagoras said, “GHS is exceptionally proud of this distinguished performance and congratulates Sarah on her fine achievement.”
The top five candidates were Conroy, Asisipo Ben
(86.86%), Kerrith Hartley (86.14%), Aku Abofra
(85.71%) and Sokhana Mngambi (85.29%). WB Rubusana Senior Secondary School’s 71% matric pass rate could not be celebrated by the school and the community of Ezibeleni, where the school is situated, as it did not appear in the newspaper with other schools whose pupils had passed.
Principal Andile Njokwana said he was disappointed, along with the pupils, parents and the entire community, when their school’s name did not appear in the paper.
“We do not know what went wrong. However, I am excited about our achievement even though there was a slight decline compared with last year’s
72.3%.”
A total of 68 learners from Rubusana sat for the exams and 15 achieved bachelor’s passes, 13 diploma passes and 20 higher certificates.
The school’s top achiever, Zizipho Nziweni, got two distinctions, in IsiXhosa and life orientation, and a level six in English.
Bulelani Secondary School celebrated an 80% pass rate which fell of short of the 82% the school achieved last year. They recorded 53 bachelor’s passes, 46 diplomas and 19 higher certificates.
Principal Phumla Rongo attributed the success to dedication from both teachers and pupils, saying if it was not for the extra classes they attended, they would not have achieved so much.
“We had morning, afternoon and winter classes to help our pupils prepare for the exams. The camp at Palotti Farm also helped because there was no distraction from the outside world, it was just the pupils and teachers preparing for the future.”
Top achiever at Bulelani Sakhe Bhayi received one distinction, five level sixes and one level five.
The Get Ahead Project achieved a 92% pass rate, which was an improvement compared with last year’s 90%. Principal Peter Steyn said they were excited to have achieved these results and were going to work even harder this year to ensure a 100% pass rate. “We had extra lessons to ensure all the pupils were well prepared for the exams. 64 pupils wrote and 48% of them obtained bachelor’s passes.”
Ekuphumleni High School in Whittlesea’s pass rate dropped from 80% to 74%.
Principal Lizwe Ngalo said the results were a disappointment as the school had maintained a record of 80% or more for 12 years. A total of 222 pupils wrote the exams and 164 passed. What consoled him was an improvement in quality results.
“Our pupil Lisakhanya Klaas was the top performer in previously disadvantaged schools in Chris Hani West. The class received 74 bachelor’s passes, 59 diplomas, 31 higher certificates and 39 distinctions in different learning areas.”
The pass rate at Siyaphakama Senior Secondary School in Sterkstroom dropped from 80.6% to 54%, with only 15 of the 28 pupils who wrote passing.
Principal Tamsamqa Phongolo said: “We found that our matrics experienced difficulty in interpreting question papers. We believe one of the contributing factors to the low results was that the school was without a maths teacher for almost a year. Most of our pupils failed business studies which may have had some complexities for pupils.”
He said the school would place more focus on familiarising the pupils with question papers for them to learn how to handle exams this year.
“We received one distinction, three bachelor’s, three diplomas and nine certificates,” Phongolo said.
The Lingelihle Senior Secondary School pass rate dropped from 68% to 54%. Principal, Mzimkhulu Mlombo said 93 matrics wrote the exam and 57 pupils passed while 36 failed.
He said, “Last year’s matrics were not dedicated. The staff motivates them and I show them the requirements needed in order for them to pass matric.”
Nkwanca High School deputy principal Nkosinathi Mbuthuma said the school’s pass rate had improved from 63% to 79.3%.
There were a total of 34 bachelor’s passes, 44 diploma passes and 15 higher certificates.
“The extra classes we had played a significant role in this year’s results.”
He praised the commitment of staff and pupils. Mbuthuma said the school obtained 21 distinctions in IsiXhosa home language.
Maria Louw High School obtained an 80% pass rate compared with the 84% the previous year. Principal Werner Newton von Schaeffer said this was a decline but not a big one. “We had nine A symbols and six out of seven progressed learners who wrote the full examination passed, which makes us very proud. We had 21 bachelor’s passes, 42 diplomas and 17 higher certificates.”
Kwa Komani Comprehensive School principal Sizwe Mrubata commended the intervention by the education department through their programme called JENN which had assisted in bringing specialists for some of the subjects.
“The school obtained 69%, an improvement compared with the 64% in the previous year.
“We had 34 bachelor’s passes, 39 diploma passes and 28 higher certificates. We got 16 distinctions for isiXhosa home language and have three overall top achievers.”