At the ceremony, which was attended by several dignitaries, including government officials, students, business people, community members and other stakeholders, the leaners were praised for doing well despite COVID-19 hardships.
Professor Mayekiso praised the grade 12 learners and acknowledged their hard work through what has been a very trying couple of years since the outbreak of the pandemic.
“I wish you all the best and that your future engagements and deliberations will be fruitful. You have done well under the very difficult circumstances. I would like to thank all the learners who have passed. I hope that UMP will be able to attract some of the province’s top achievers to come and study here,” said Professor Mayekiso.
Mpumalanga Premier, Ms Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane, extended her appreciation to the parents, teachers, school management teams, teacher unions, and members of school governing bodies and the business sector for creating an enabling environment for teaching and learning to thrive in the province.
“2021 was the second year in which matriculants wrote their final examinations in a Covid-19 constrained environment. Driven by resilience, this did not deter them from pressing on until they concluded their examinations,” said Ms Mtsweni-Tsipane.
“The assessments we conducted following the 2020 national senior certificate examinations have taught us a thing or two about the importance of improvement programmes, aimed at mitigating the devastating impact of Covid-19 in education,” she said.
The premier also mentioned that the names of the cohort of learners will be written in the annals of history as the biggest group registered to write their matric exams in the province since South Africa attained democracy.
Top student, Gugu Mphaka, received a new car, a laptop, R20 000 in cash, a bursary and other goodies from the office of the Premier of Mpumalanga.
Awarding top learners
The Mpumalanga class of 2021 recorded a whopping 73.6 % overall pass rate. Since 2012, the province has not reported an overall pass rate of below 70%. A total of 21 044 candidates obtained bachelor passes which will open doors for them to further their studies in institutions of higher learning.
“This figure represents 31, 5% of the 2021 cohort of matriculants, which is an improvement of 1,1% compared with the 30,4% in 2020,” said the premier. She further noted that all the students who performed well would receive government bursaries to study at the institutions of their choice.
Top student, Gugu Mphaka, who obtained seven distinctions in IsiNdebele, Accounting, Life Orientation, English, Mathematics, Life Science and Physical Science, received a new car, a laptop, R20 000 in cash, a bursary and other goodies from the office of the Premier of Mpumalanga.
Mphaka obtained 100 % in Mathematics and Physical Science, and 99% in Accounting. She matriculated from KwaMhlanga Secondary School in the Mpumalanga Highveld and says she is ready to study medicine.
“I would like to encourage those who will be doing grade 12 this year that it is possible to pass with flying colours regardless of the poor status of their schools and families. Our laboratories are not up to standard but our teachers were always encouraging us to work very hard and stay focused.”
Other students who also passed with flying colours include Lindi Mpangani from Ntsikazi in Ehlanzeni, Amanda Mdluli from Ehlanzeni, Busisiwe Vemba from Nkangala, Thabanga Masemola from KwaMhlanga, Wilberforce Nkosi from Nkomazi, Sifiso Hosana from Thulamahashe in Bushbuckridge amongst others.
On top of all the goods the learners received, those who obtained 100% in some subjects received cash prizes of R10 000 upwards based on their performance.Mpumalanga also produced the nation’s highest grade 12 achiever from the quintile one-school category, and the second-highest achieving student in the quintile three categories.
@ Story by Lisa Thabethe. Pictures by ChrisplPhoto