Violet Jiyane Secondary School in Mpumalanga has spent the year preparing its first group of Grade 12s for the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations.
The school’s English teacher Ziphezinhle Mnguni said: “We were hoping to get an 80% pass rate. However, we have great potential in getting a 100% pass rate, judging from our learners' hard work, unity and determination.”
Violet Jiyane Secondary School was established in 2007 as a junior secondary school. Due to the fact that there was only one secondary school in Carolina township and learners were under performing, the Department of Basic Education saw a great need of expanding the school to a secondary school. The school had its first grade 10 class in 2019.
According to Mnguni, teachers faced a lot of challenges as it was also a new journey for them. She asserted that they had a challenge of submitting learners' marks to the department. In addition to this, while preparing for exams, they had the challenge of implementing a study group that was going to be beneficial for everyone.
“At first, we had planned a camping study group, but our principal said the department of education is against it since we are still facing the pandemic. We then came up with the afternoon study group from 4pm to 9pm,” said Mnguni.
She added that the parents were also supportive and co-operating with the school. Since some of the learners came from far away townships, parents rented accommodation for them in the surrounding areas.
“We have divided learners into groups of 10 for Covid safety precautions, and the assistant teacher has helped us a lot in making sure that we follow Covid rules and regulations,’’ she said.
She concluded that with the help of parents and sponsorships, they have managed to provide food and transport for the learners.