POLOKWANE – Curro Holdings hosted South Africa’s biggest JSE-listed independent education provider’s annual Matric Gala Award Ceremony where they honoured their 2018 top matric performers and schools from around the country. The memorable ceremony was held at Emperors Palace Convention Centre in Johannesburg on Saturday 12 January.
Curro learners from across the country attended the awards as they celebrated Curro Holdings’ top achievers during the 2018 academic year, both for Independent Education Board (IEB) and National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations. Being it the first time for Curro’s 20 years of existence that the top spot was shared, Asande Vilane from St Dominics Academy in Newcastle, and Lara van Rooyen from Curro Mossel Bay both shared the number one spot as top IEB academic achiever, where both learners managed to attain a prestigious average of 92.8571%.
2018 was an exceptional year for Curro Holdings’ IEB schools, with an overall pass rate of 99.7% for its grade 12 learners, and the results indicated an increase in the number of learners with university exemption, growing from 85% to 88%. The number of A candidates, improving from 9.8% to 11.5%, and candidates with an average higher than a C, rising from 70.3% to 73.2%.
On the NSC exam side, Northern Academy in Polokwane dominated the awards, with eight of the top 10 best performing learners hailing from this school. Present Rikhotso took the top spot, with an outstanding average of 94%. She was also nominated as the top Independent School learner in Limpopo and will study actuarial sciences at the University of Pretoria this year.
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The second spot went to Karishma George, who was not far behind on 93,57%. She enrolled for computer engineering at the University of Pretoria this year. Lebea Sathekge secured the third spot with his average of 91,14%, and is set to study accounting sciences at the University of Pretoria this year.
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All three learners certainly made the most of the opportunities provided to them, with all three being Curro’s Ruta Sechaba bursary recipients.
The pass rate for all Curro Holdings’ NSC schools in 2018 stood at 94.3%, and complimenting this was a growth in the number of learners with university exemption, increasing from 42% to 52.1%, while the number of A candidates doubled from 1.1% to 2.2%.
During the ceremony, Curro Holdings CEO, Andries Greyling congratulated all the learners for persisting during long study hours and praised their commitment to the task at hand. “The learners present here today are a prime example of what can be achieved through hard work and dedication. I wish all of you the best on your paths ahead, be true to yourselves and strive to be the best you can be, and you will achieve much in life,” Andries concluded.