Vuleka SSB High School counsellor Sihle Maseko writes:
On 23 March, President Cyril Ramaphosa had a family meeting with us and gave us news that would shake the Class of 2020.
The President announced a national lockdown that would ‘have a considerable impact on people’s livelihoods, on the life of our society and on our economy, the human cost of delaying this action would be far, far greater’.
Vuleka SSB High School’s Class of 2020 WhatsApp group went into overdrive, with multiple questions being asked by learners. The lockdown presented an obstacle that obscured the future and made the present uncertain.
“At first I was happy because I thought lockdown was a short-term thing. I saw it as an opportunity to find myself and develop in other aspects that I have postponed addressing. But when lockdown continued to be extended, I started stressing because this was meant to be my last year at school. I wanted to create more memories with my schoolmates, and I wanted to get great results at the end of the year,” said learner Nobuhle Ndlovu.
The school is blessed with staff members that take their in loco parentis role seriously. They love their learners. They have invested their all into the lives of the Class of 2020 and knew that it was important to ensure that their potential was reached despite the existence of a global pandemic that would still unravel in unexpected ways. The teachers embraced the need to go online with their lessons, upskilling themselves in a short space of time.
Numerous challenges of access to technological devices, mobile data, and food were experienced by the Class of 2020. The reaction by the staff and wider school community was an example of putting the best interests of the child ahead of everything else. Staff members donated data, donated towards food drives for our Class of 2020 and their families, and availed themselves at any time of day to support them.
Nobuhle added, “Despite everything that the whole world was going through, they [teachers] were able to put more effort and time in our schoolwork, ensuring that we understood the work”.
To the Vuleka SSB High School Class of 2020, you were a class above the chaos. You showed that it can be done. You showed that hard times call for calm heads, humility, and unity in purpose. You have all sowed good seed this year by never giving up. And we are excited to see what you will reap from it all. We love to see it.
