Deputy minister of education Reginah Mhaule encourages Class of 2021 to work hard
The deputy minister of education, Reginah Mhaule, visits Thutopele Secondary School, which also received a donation of sanitary pads and shield masks.
On June 2, The Department of Basic Education (DBE) deputy minister, Reginah Mhaule, visited Thutopele Secondary School at AP Khumalo, Katlehong, to celebrate the improvement of matric results obtained by the Class of 2020.
The courtesy visit by Mhaule aimed to motivate and encourage the Class of 2021 to break the 92.81 per cent record, as well as to monitor compliance with health protocols set out by the DBE under the Disaster Management Act level one.
“We are not on a mission, we just came to check if the school is adhering to all protocols because of the high enrolment in the school,” said Mhaule.
“We are satisfied with what we found. The school is perfect, it is adhering to all non-pharmaceutical initiatives. I’ve seen they have water to wash hands, sanitiser and all learners wear masks.
“What makes us more appreciative is that the school is performing very well as it comes from a history of underperformance. Due to the systems they put in place to improve the school, the results are improving,” she added.
Following her engagement with Grade 12 learners, Mhaule said the learners committed to obtaining a 100 per cent pass rate.
“The learners are so positive. They promised us that they will exceed the 92. 81 per cent set by the 2020 matrics. We are looking forward to that, and we will come here in January to see if they kept their promise. We believe in them because they are young and we can see that it is easy to shape them,” she concluded.
On behalf of learners, the RCL president of Thutopele, Nhlanhla Ndovu, committed that they will perform well. He also thanked the department and Imbumba Trust for sharing words of encouragement and donating to the school.
The school was presented with a certificate of achievement for obtaining a 92.81 per cent matric pass rate for 2020 with at least 61 bachelors, 60 diplomas and 80 higher certificates.
It was listed among the top-three performing schools in Ekurhuleni South.
The school principal, Sengi Kubheka, said he feels like this is a challenge and that he has to put in more effort to help the matrics.
“But the fact that the deputy minister left her office to visit this school out of 25 000 schools under her watch has encouraged me,” he said.
“We are working towards obtaining a 100 per cent pass rate. As a person, you must aim high so that when you fall, you fall somewhere instead of nowhere. The visit from the deputy minister has motivated the learners to stick to this promise,” said Kubheka.
The principal explained that parental involvement is vital in assisting learners to achieve their goals.
“When we invite Grade 12 learners to take part in the school intervention programme, only a few parents attend. Even in lower grades, parental involvement is very poor,” he added.
“The SGB election had to be done twice. The last number we had was less than 45 out of 1 600 parents. We need parents to be involved,” said Kubheka.
On the day, Imbumba Trust donated 244 000 sanitary towels and 2 000 shield masks sponsored by Dis-Chem.
