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‘Ambassadors of the education system’ lauded for their hard work in matric

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 Elana Marais from Hoërskool Waterkloof.  Picture: Elizabeth Sejake/Beeld
Elana Marais from Hoërskool Waterkloof. Picture: Elizabeth Sejake/Beeld

Excited, blessed, proud – the enthusiasm from the country’s top matrics and their teachers is almost tangible.

As Basic Education Minister Motshegka and her deputy, Enver Surty, sat down to have breakfast with the country’s top matric achievers for 2016 yesterday, she was getting ready to announce the numbers.

The announcement, which happened last night, saw a marginal increase in the pass rate to 76.2%, and was met with a mixed response from political leaders.

The breakfast, hosted by Vodacom in Midrand, saw Motshekga congratulating the class of 2016’s 21 top achievers, saying that it was an honour to speak to the “bright sparks” and that it takes an entire community to raise a child.

Official results were released this morning (except for the Western Cape), with a 76.2 % pass rate for the class of 2016.

With more than 800 000 pupils who sat for their final matric exams, the top achievers were celebrated for their effort and determination towards attaining their high marks.

Motshegka called the pupils “ambassadors of the education system”, imploring them to continue striving to be the best that they could be.

With a jubilant mood permeating throughout the room, proud learners posed with the ministerial committee as they had their pictures snapped whilst proud parents looked on.

Seven pupils passed with 10 or more distinctions nationally, including Elana Marais from Hoërskool Waterkloof in Pretoria. Speaking to City Press, she said that she took great pride in her results, after achieving 10 distinctions.

“I was really excited after I got my results and I feel incredibly blessed because lots of people don’t even get one distinction so I am grateful to have done so well,” Marais said.

The top achiever plans to study medicine at Stellenbosch University while still trying to maintain a balance between her studies and social life.

“I think it’s important for anyone to have a balance, you can’t just study all the time. I had a great support system from my friends and family, which helped me to focus my mind more when I studied,” Marais said, who was also on the school’s first team for hockey and was also the school’s head girl.

Speaking on behalf of Hoërskool Waterkloof, Head of English, Ingrid Knoetze said that the school was incredibly proud of its results.

“There have been about 720 distinctions with an average of 2.2 per candidate and our school has been listed as one of the top three in the province,” Knoetze said.


Avantika Seeth
Multimedia journalist
City Press
p:+27 11 713 9001
w:www.citypress.co.za  e: avantika.seeth@citypress.co.za
      
 
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