St John’s College has shared their good wishes for a former pupil, Lwazi Nzimande who has excelled despite the odds.
“We are extremely proud of Lwazi,” Agnes Nugent, director of the St John’s Academy.
The St John’s College Academy is for boys from disadvantaged backgrounds. These boys are in Grade 10 and attend nearby schools during school hours at Athlone Boys, St Enda’s and Barnato Park. They attend the Academy at St Johns College every afternoon, Monday to Friday, during school term, during which they are given extra lessons in mathematics, science and English. They are provided with transport and lunch.
She explained that Nzimande is a hard worker with remarkable self-discipline who has had very little family support during his life but despite this, he persevered to achieve great heights.
He started his schooling career at the Thukeyana Primary Farm School in Underberg where he did extremely well. Barnato Park High School in Berea had an arrangement with the farm school to offer a bursary to the top student in Grade 7 to complete his or her high schooling at Barnato Park, and to live in the safe house on the premises of the school. Nzimande was awarded this bursary and started his high schooling career at Barnato Park in 2010, and very soon went to the top of his class. He showed particular promise in mathematics, and on reaching Grade 10, he was invited to attend the St John’s Academy in the afternoons, together with 23 of his peers.
In 2014, he passed Grade 12 with six distinctions, achieving 98 percent in mathematics and 95 percent in physical science. In 2015, he accepted a bursary to study at St John’s College and entered for Cambridge International Examinations A-levels (a school leaving qualification in from the United Kingdom for students completing secondary or pre-university education) in maths, further maths and physics.
“He was one of our top achievers in the sixth form [the two final years at school for students between the ages of 16 and 18 who are preparing for A levels] for 2015 having attained an overall average of 88 percent. He achieved 83 percent for further maths and 90 percent for both maths and physics. These are remarkable results,” said Nugent.
He is currently studying at the Actuarial Science Faculty at Wits University. She added that the academy has managed to establish a bursary and accommodation for him for his first year of study.
Details: St John’s College 010 492 0314.
