Challenges couldn’t kill Siphamandla’s dreams

Siphamandla Jiya from Alexandra, Eighth Avenue did not allow outside influences to deter him from studying towards his final matric exams.

The Kwabhekilanga Secondary School matriculant explained that he studied late at night in the kitchen area, where he used a small stool as a table and leaned towards it by sitting on a chair that was on the same level.

This was just one of the challenges he had to overcome in the two room house he lives in, where the kitchen was the only available space for him to study.

“I live near a tavern and at around 11pm towards the early hours of the morning were the times that were quiet and suitable enough for me to study without any disturbances.”

For more articles, or to view your DBE matric results, click here. The results will be made available at 6am on 23 February 2021.

Jiya added how supportive his parents were in his final year at school.

“My parents were a huge part of my support structure in the previous year, especially when I needed data and airtime they made sure I always had that because they did not want me to perform poorly and blame it on the pandemic,” he said.

Due to not having adequate resources, he frequently listened to the radio on his phone to hear any important announcements made by the department of education regarding school matters and studied from online videos he would download.

“During the hard lockdown, I preferred to study alone rather than in a group so that I could study certain topics thoroughly at my own pace.”

Jiya said he was expecting five distinctions in Geography, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physical Sciences and IsiXhosa or at least receive a level six for each subject which still guaranteed him being accepted into any university of his choice to study actuarial sciences.

He advised pupils that were still in high school to keep a positive energy towards their studies.

“I’d advise other pupils that are still in high school to be self-disciplined and not approach their studies with a negative attitude.”

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