Friends of Emadwaleni (FOE) held a prize giving ceremony for the pupils of Emadweleni High School in Orlando West last Friday.
Friends of Emadwaleni is a collective of former pupils from Emedweleni High who have come together with the aim of improving the matric pass rate of the school.
During a school reunion on June 16 in 2009 some of the pupils decided to give back to their former school by engaging with the school and finding out how they could be of assistance.
“During our first visit we were shattered when we found out the state the school. To say it was dilapidated is an understatement. The toilets were unusable, classroom had broken windows just to mention a few,” said chairperson of FOE Sipho Nyembe.
He said another issue of concern for the school was the low intake pupils which brought the threat of the school being closed down.
“We decided to join forces with the school and we started to write letters to the GDE, potential sponsors, requested quotations because our focus then was to assist in rehabilitating the school building,” he said.
In 2009 matric results were 58%, 2010 66%, 2011 and 2012 76% and 2013 87%. “Our goal for 2014 is to achieve a pass rate of 100%,” said Nyembe.
He told the pupils that they are expected to show character, he said they should take responsibility and be accountable for their actions.