When he was writing his first English paper for matric, a group of gangsters entered the schoolyard and began interrupting the examination process.
This saw Indiphile Mkhanya believing he wouldn’t be able to finish his paper. Little did he realise that today he would be recognised as one of the top matriculants in the North West.
“I was scared at that time, I thought that anytime a stone may be thrown through the window. My future was a little shaky. But then the situation was managed, even though the trauma remains,” he said.
Top marks in maths
He obtained a 98% in mathematics.
“I enjoy maths, I’ve been receiving awards for that subject since Grade 3. My philosophy is to not wait until work piles up. I deal with difficulties as they arise. Mathematics is life. You can learn a lot just by solving a problem,” he explained.
Even though he considered himself a disciplined pupil who was an achiever from a young age, he bestowed all of his accolades to his mother.
“Despite our family challenges, the smile on my mother’s face inspired me to keep going. I couldn’t comprehend how she smiled even though things were bad at home. That made my life easier, because it told me to relax and focus on my schoolwork. Because my mother had it. She would take care of the rest, no matter how difficult things were at home,” he explained.
His sentiments were shared by the province’s top performer Jurie Blignaut.
“I will surely speak at my school and leave a legacy to encourage the children there that they, too, can be the best version of themselves. Dedication, help from teachers, and grace were all part of it. If you put in the effort, you will succeed,” he said.
North West retained position four, obtaining 87.5 % from the 81.6 % in 2023, an increase of 5.9 %.
MEC lauds achievement amid challenges
The provincial Education MEC Viola Motsumi said her department made it despite having many challenges.
“We had internal and external challenges. But against all odds, driven by our unshaken belief in serving the best interest of the child and advancing the potential of our learners, we weathered every storm and soldiered on.
“Finally, we have successfully reached our destination, and that moment of awaiting the 2024 results is over.”
A total of 40, 575 candidates sat for the national senior certificate examination in the North West.
“It was not easy. At one particular point I had to attend a memorial service of one of the Grade 12 learners. And when I went through his profile I could see that there was potential. He was determined to contribute to the past rate of our province. I hope wherever he is, he is proud of us as we have represented him very well,” Motsumi said.
The class of 2024 obtained a total of 791 distinctions, excluding the Life Orientation subject. The number of candidates who obtained a bachelor’s pass increased to 18, 279, compared to 15, 059 in 2023.
Only 28 schools achieved below 70% pass rate, an improvement from 106 in 2022, and 73 in 2023.
Aiming for zero underperformance in province
“There are higher possibilities that in the future we will have zero percent of schools that are underperforming. We are determined to reduce the number of underperforming schools to zero.
“With regards to the performance of males and females in our province, males performed better with 88.4%. But with lesser achievement in the admission of bachelor studies than females, who obtained 46.5%.
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