Johannesburg – The graduating class of 2021 faced not only a pandemic, but existing and continued problems, including social, and economic inequalities.
One of the challenges they faced was adjusting to online learning.
This follows the lockdown regulations that were introduced to the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This meant they had to have access to the internet and suitable devices such as laptops and smartphones in order to be able to communicate with educators.
Some of these learners emerged from poor backgrounds where data and smartphones are considered a luxury, many could not afford.
In addition to this, the number of educators decreased.
Reports revealed that approximately 3 000 educators lost their lives due to the Covid-19 virus.
Sunday World spoke to Thando Tshabalala from Kwazulu Natal, Vryheid High School who shared and explained the challenges she faced.
Tshabalala mentioned that the challenges began in grade 11 when study time was reduced.
“We had to work against time to finish the syllabus within a limited amount of time. So we had to study for a lot of work during the exams,” she said.
Tshabalala added that they did not have enough time to revise and struggled a lot with time management.
“We were also emotionally and physically drained from all the studying and late nights
“We had stress regarding our university applications and whether we would get good enough results, ” she explained.
Tshabalala also told Sunday World that they worked under a lot of pressure from the school and families. She says they all needed to make their parents proud.
Although Tshabalala endured a lot, she is hopeful that she will make her family proud.
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