Alex’s best achieving secondary school KwaBhekilanga has dared other schools to ‘catch us if you can’ in the interest of improving the learning for local children.
This comes after the school’s revising of the results and the drop of 3.5 percent from 97.6 percent in 2013 to 94.1 percent last year. Thus, the school is planning remedial measures to stop a further drop this year.
Principal Jubera Selowa said it was in every school’s interest to restore the community’s pride by providing quality education and good results for the children. “For this to happen, schools should compete and ensure discipline among pupils at all times.” Selowa said while his school aimed to remain a model of good performance, the current gap in performance among the schools had to be tackled to make Alex proud of itself and to avoid parents wanting to transfer their children to better performing schools.
He added that while they attained above 90 percent pass rate in most subjects, they had a challenge in physics and accounting where on the later, the teacher left mid-year forcing other teachers to bridge the gap. “We hope for a replacement early to ensure continuity throughout the year.”
Another challenge he said was advancing pupils with limited academic abilities to higher grades. “Advancing these children when they have not passed previous grades impacts on the final grades, and it becomes a reflection of the school’s capabilities.”
He said this could be remedied if parents of children not academically inclined were advised to consider Further Education and Training [FET] colleges from Grade nine instead of waiting for them to first fail Grade 12. “This would help avoid wasting their time by starting other career opportunities at FET colleges early.” Selowa said they will advise parents on this option at the next parents’ meeting.
