Dedicated teachers and very enthusiastic pupils are some of the qualities that made a village-based school in Bergville, KwaZulu-Natal, to easily score 96.2% pass rate.
Tabhane Senior Secondary School in Emakhosaneni village, is one of the best performing schools in the district and has maintained this record for years.
In 2021, the school got 92.4%.
The school had 184 grade 12 pupils in 2022.
A total of 98 obtained bachelor passes while 59 got diplomas.
Two of their best pupils got seven A’s while seven will write supplementary exams.
School principal Sbusiso Zungu said they taught over 20 subjects and they had managed to get 100% on 10 of them while the lowest scorewas 55%.
Zungu said what pleased him were good quality results.
The seasoned principal opened the school in 1996 after parents built it.
“I am happy that we were able to improve from 92% to 96%. The main aim is to obtain a 100% pass rate and I want to achieve it before I retire. Despite some challenges we managed to look beyond and focus on good results. I am proud of my teachers and learners. One of the learners who got seven A’s wants to do medicine and I am proud as a principal to have produced such a product.
“We achieved this due to hard work and making Tabhane part of my life. Secondly, I share my vision with teachers and learners and they bought into it. We have hard working teachers who are passionate about teaching. We started our morning classes, which are compulsory, very early and they have yielded these results. Our winning card is finishing the syllabus in July and use the rest of the months to revise question papers. We normally start afternoon classes in late September.”
The school made headlines in 2022 when parents in the area wanted pregnant pupils to stay at home until they had given birth.
He said parents did not want their children to be exposed to a traumatic experience of a pupil giving birth in class.
Other challenges which faced the school included load shedding and classes that have leaking roofs and damaged floors.
“Three years ago, while learners were writing a test, the roof was blown away by storms. We had to remove the children. This was reported to the department and we are still waiting for a response.
“Last year, we managed to fix the roof with the help of soldiers who were in the area to fix a bridge. Parents and the school bought material . The issue of load shedding was a problem because we had to change our study plan according to their schedule.
“Since 2020, the department added technical and engineering subjects but we still don’t have workshop where learners can do practicals. I would love to have the school renovated so that we can be able to have these workshops.”
bambalelep@sowetan.co.za
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