Cape Town – Xhosa home language schools in the province have gone from strength to strength, the latest matric results have shown, with principals attributing pupils’ success to old-fashioned attention to detail.
Bardale Secondary in Mfuleni came out tops with a 94.1% matric pass rate, followed by Hindle High School in Delft, Centre of Science and Technology in Khayelitsha and Thandokhulu Secondary in Mowbray.
Bardale Secondary’s matric pass rate jumped from 67% in 2017, to 94.1% in 2018. Principal Athini Tyandela attributed the improvement to teaching and learning methods which took into consideration pupils’ personal issues.
“We worked very hard throughout the year and the key has been to constantly motivate pupils despite what they were going through in their personal lives.
"Teachers served as mentors to pupils and together they found their ways to work through what they were experiencing. We are very proud of them,” Tyandela said.
Hindle High School had managed to secure a 90% pass rate for the past five years, principal Mario Jansen said.
Their 2018 matric class was no different, obtaining a 92.6% rate.
Jansen said pupils at the school had to endure tougher socio-economic realities, with at least a third of pupils travelling from Blikkiesdorp every day to attend class.
In 2007, the DA-led City set up a temporary relocation area near Delft for families who had invaded unfinished units at the N2 Gateway housing project, and it was supposed to be a short-term housing solution.
But 11 years later, the corrugated iron township has grown with more families living there now than ever.
“We start with the hard work from when pupils arrive in Grade 8. We also bring parents on board - their input and encouragement is pivotal.”
Thandokhulu Secondary principal Jimmie de Villiers said their bachelor passes increased from 43.3% in 2015, to 51.1% in 2018.
The school ranks the fourth best Xhosa home language school in the province, having obtained a 91.5% matric pass rate.
“Our secret is to focus on our core business throughout the year: strong teaching and learning. We jealously protect tuition time and welcome NGOs, other schools like Herschel Girls’ High and academic institutions to offer extra learning opportunities for our students.
“When considering the way forward, weighing our options, we always ask, ‘How would it benefit the learner?’,” De Villiers said.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced in Midrand that the national matric class of 2018 achieved a pass rate of 78.2%, a 3.1% improvement from 2017.
The Western Cape matric pass rate had fallen from 84.4% in 2017 to 81.5% for the class of 2018.
The province clinched third place again, with the Free State in second with an 87.5% pass rate, an improvement of 1.4% from 2017.
Gauteng was named as the top-performing province with a pass rate of 87.9%, an improvement of 2.8% on the previous year’s results.