A BURNING wish to change the situation at home for the better motivated Sidelile High School’s Uphile Shange to excel in the 2023 national senior examinations in pursuit of his dream of qualifying as an actuarial scientist.
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Uphile achieved the highest marks in the Umlazi district and the third highest in the province. His seven distinctions in all his seven subjects saw him place first in the province for physical science as well as in geography, scoring 100% in both.
The Umlazi district includes all government schools in Amanzimtoti, Isipingo, Umlazi, Umgababa, Umbumbulu, Adams Mission, Folweni, KwaMakhutha, and Umkomaas. Sidelile High School is in Magabheni near Umgababa.
“I worked very hard because I know that some situations in life require education to overcome. That is what motivated me the most to strive to be successful so that I can make a change at home as well as in my community,” said Uphile.
He was one of the selected few who cracked an invite from the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, to attend the Official Announcement of the Matric Results Ceremony in Gauteng on January 18. Uphile said the road to where he is today was never easy as he had to overcome many hardships during his final year of study, the biggest of which was load-shedding.
“At home, I mostly studied at night and to do that, one requires electricity, which most of the time was off. I had to work around that and find other suitable times to study,” he said.
When he returned from Gauteng, he received a fit-for-a-king homecoming parade in his community. He was grateful for his achievement, and he thanked his family for the support which allowed him to achieve outstanding results.
