Diepdale Secondary School celebrated and honoured their class of 2022 top two achievers during a learner-parent meeting on January 28.
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The celebration saw this year’s grade 12 learners and parents gathered in numbers to witness the top learners, Alice Shilubane and Kurhula Mathumba who both scored five distinctions in their subjects.
Each learner received a whooping R 5 000 which was pledged by former Diepdale 1989 to 1984 learners known as ‘Diepies’.
According to the Diepies group representative, Hatlane Baloyi, their group started as a result of their love and the memories they created during their time at the school.
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“We also wanted to give back to the learners in our former school, we then came up with this idea after hearing that Abe and his wife, Sonto Thebe who are known for funding learners to higher institutions of learning pledged R5 000 to donate to top achieving learners, we decided to join in and topped the money,” Baloyi said.
He added that through encouraging their former classmates to take part in this heart-warming gesture, they managed to raise R10 000.
“We are now going to donate annually and we hope when we return next year, most if not all the learners will be receiving these prizes, because we do this from the bottom of our hearts and we are inspired by nothing but helping young black learners succeed.”
Diepdale principal, Johanness Mnakisi expressed heartfelt gratitude to the group for making this donation and said it will go a long way in helping the learners as they prepare to leave for University.
“We also hope this will enough motivation for the class of 2023, we are doing this to prepare and motivate them to work hard in their studies because we believe they have the potential to obtain the 100 percent target we set with them for this year, therefore our vision is clear and we are now running towards securing our goal,” Mnakisi said.
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The class of 2023 were given pledge forms to sign and the school code of conduct was read to them as they committed themselves to go an extra-mile in achieving their target for the year.
“Our advantage this year is that we have 130 matric learners as compared to last year where we had 203 learners, so this year’s number will be easy to manage as we race towards our quality bachelors pass. The learners have already received their study timetable and we are ready to hit the ground running because we believe it’s how we start the race and not how we finish.”
The 2022 top learners expressed heartfelt gratitude to all the stakeholders who donated towards their cash prizes.
“This money will go a long way as I prepare for University, it will help with other essentials as I wait for funding.
“I believe we are blessed to receive these prizes, it shows that success is measured by the amount of hard work that one put into their work,” Alice Shilubane said.
The school was also visited by the Gauteng MEC of safety and security, Faith Mazibuko on January 27.
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“This was one of the schools which were having a challenge of gangsterism, bullying and a low learner enrolment.
“We are here to encourage and remind them of their role as the school management.
“During this visit we have seen a lot of challenges from learners not having enough infrastructure which is a concern because as a section 21 school the department gives out money to purchase learning material,” MEC Mazibuko said.
She added that since challenges were identified, they will be elevated to the Department of Education to improve teaching and learning conditions.
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