Former matric learners in Diepdale Secondary School gathered in the school premise to collect their matric results in the early morning of January 20.
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As they queued in the lines with great suspense, some of the learners were proud to announce their results.
The school however, saw a decrease in the percentage pass rate for the 2022 matric results which dropped from 80,2 percent in 2021 to 77,4 percent last year.
During the publications visit in the school, Diepdale principal, Johannes Mnakisi called a meeting with all the staff members to make them account for the results as well as to revive their commitment and dedication.
According to the principal, they are due to have a Grade 12 learner-parent meeting on January 28 to engage with parents of this year’s matric learners on ways in which they can assist the learners to improve on their studies.
“We are going to hit the road running, however we want to come up with tangible strategies that will come in handy for both our learners and teachers so that they can do their best and we want the parents to assist in coming up with solutions,” Mnakisi said.
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When asked about some of the challenges the school faced which led to the drop in performance, he mentioned loss of focus and fading spirit which might have occurred from the learners’ side.
“We think our learners might have lost the spirit which they had throughout the year due to possible fatigue as they prepared for the exams and accountability and ownership on the subjects also needs to be overemphasized from all levels of management.”
He added that some of the learners may have had lack of parental support and this may be one of the leading factors to their under-performance.
“Education is a three legged pot which consist of the parent, learner and the school management.
“And for the pot to stand firm all the stakeholders must take charge and play their role, so we advise our parents to come on board and join us as we fight for a better education and future of our learners.”
Some learners however did exceptionally well and obtained distinctions.Diepdale’s 2022 top five achievers are, Alice Shilubane with five distinctions in English FAL, Maths lit, Life Science, Business Studies and History, Kurhula Mathumba with also five distinctions in English FAL, Life Science, Accounting, Business Studies and Economics.
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Risuna Maswanganyi obtained distinctions in Life Science and Maths Lit, Glenda Radebe with distinctions in Geography and Life Science as well as Masingita Chauke with distinctions in Life Science and History.
According to the principal, the top five learners will receive laptops and goodies from sponsors as well as R 5000 in cash for the top two achievers to assist with their tertiary applications.
“We hope this will be a call to motivate the upcoming learners because we want them to do well in their studies and remain focused.”
He expressed words of encouragement to learners who did not make it and encouraged them to register for the upcoming supplementary exams.
“Years are not the same and so are the learners, this is why as a school we are always there to support them and offer assistance were they lack.
“The school will always be their home and as teachers will always be their parents; we want nothing but the best for them and we wish them well.”
