Chairman Ellis Falkof of ORT SA and programme participant Thapelo Thage.
ORT South Africa is in a celebratory mood as 56 Second Chance Programme participants who rewrote their maths and physical science matric papers obtained an overall 95 per cent pass rate.
The programme is part of the ORT South Africa Stem Academy in Houghton and is committed to driving science, technology, engineering and mathematics programmes to promote coding, robotics and 21st-century skills among young people.
Some of the Second Chance participants who passed maths and science through the programme.
“I am pleased with the results of the 2016 class. If you look at the percentages of some of the students who started with us and the percentages they have obtained now, you can see a brilliant improvement. I want to say that for those matric learners who are feeling hopeless as a result of their matric marks, there is still hope to follow your career if you complete the programme,” said Mpho Matlala, head of the teacher empowerment department at ORT South Africa.
ORT SA, is an educational non-governmental organisation affiliated to World ORT, one of the largest global educational and training non-profit organisations in the world which has been in operation for 136 years in more than 30 countries.
Nine candidates improved their maths marks by more than 80 per cent and 10 candidates improved their physical science marks by more than 80 per cent. Four candidates improved both subjects by more than 80 per cent.
Chairman Ellis Falkof of ORT SA with the head of the Stem Programme at ORT SA, Mpho Matala, and physical science teacher, Silas Fenyane.
Thapelo Thage (18), who previously attended Eastbank High School, has dreams of pursuing civil engineering. In matric, he obtained a bachelor’s pass but found his maths result to be too low to apply for his selected degree.
He joined the programme and surprised himself with his 19 per cent improvement in maths, “I went from 35 per cent to 53 per cent in maths. Here we got good guidance, so now I’m helping someone else to do the programme.”
Registration for this year has just begun.
Selection will be based on the following:
Maths and science exams must have been written last year
Passed at least four subjects
Achieved low marks or failed maths and science
Willing to attend classed throughout this academic year.
Required documents include the following:
2016 matric results
Certified ID
Two ID photographs
Proof of residence
Completed ORT SA application form.
The programme not only provides support in maths and science, but also offers career guidance and computer courses.
Silas Fenyane, the physical science teacher of the programme, is pleased with the results for this year and proud of the participants. “These results motivate me to teach more. I learnt to teach as if the students are my own biological children, so I give it my best. I’m very happy and proud.”
