Good luck to everybody writing matric

Matric pupils around the country began writing this week … and many will be hoping the exams will help open doors to a better life for them.

So, now is not the time to dwell on the sad reality that many of them might not pass and that even those who do, will struggle to find places in the stampede for university places next year. Even then, a university degree is no guarantee of a job in a country with one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the world.

What we should be doing – as parents, as teachers, as friends and relatives and even as ordinary citizens – is encouraging these young people to get their heads down and do their best. If we are close to them, we should support them and understand when their frayed tempers reach breaking point. That all comes with the territory.

Well done to all of them for having come this far – it will not have been easy.

Remember, too, that succeeding in life – at matric, then later at a tertiary institution and in the workplace – means you should show your thanks to society by giving something back.

And that could be the hardest test of all.

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