White City learner achieves a big academic milestone

Ntombenhle Madonsela, an 18-year-old from White City and a Grade 12 learner at Emshukantambo Secondary School has achieved a significant milestone in her academic journey.

She recently earned a place in the prestigious 7 out of 7 Programme, an exclusive initiative designed for top-performing matriculants across the province.

In July, Madonsela received a call from her teacher informing her that she had been selected for the programme.

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The 7 out of 7 Programme identifies a select group of Grade 12 learners who have consistently excelled in their studies, with performance between 80-100% across their subjects.

Madonsela is now among the 30 students chosen from across the province based on data from the Data-Driven Districts (DDD) platform.

“White City is not a very luxurious place to live in and our living situation is not a very comfortable one. So, I have made it my everyday mission to better my life and that of my family.

“When I first heard about this, it felt so surreal but when my dad told me it’s real, it then started sinking in that this is big and it made me really happy,” said Madonsela.

The programme provides additional specialised support to help these learners reach their full potential.

Its ultimate goal is to encourage them to achieve distinctions (Level 7) in all seven of their subjects, giving them an extra push towards academic excellence.

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Madonsela attributes her success to her unwavering dedication to her studies and the strong support of her parents, particularly since her transfer to Emshukantambo Secondary School.

Bongiwe Maseko, Ntombenhle’s mother expressed their joy as parents about their child’s academic success and mentioned where it comes from.

“As her parents we are so happy with our daughter’s academic success, we are proud of her and we always see how hard-working she is because she is always trying to better herself academically.

“She is always studying and even enters online programmes like Siyavula in her spare time which she also acquired a certificate from,” said Maseko.

Jabulani Maseko, father of Ntombenhle also added on the importance of supporting their daughter.

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“Since I’m home most of the time because I own a spaza shop, I try and do a lot of house chores so that when my children come back from school they don’t have to worry about those. All they need to do is dedicate time to their studies,” explained Jabulani.

Through her hard work and determination, she now stands as a proud participant in this prestigious programme which has also brought another opportunity for her to travel to Richards Bay, Kwa-Zulu Natal with four other top matriculants in the province.