Sleepless nights pay off for top matric students
Malaba Nemavhadwe from Limpopo’s Tshivhase Secondary is proof that dynamites come in small packages.
Her countless hours of no sleep and studying – sometimes over 12 hours have paid off for the petite learner who scooped South Africa’s top learner for quintile two category.
Speaking to SAnews after the announcement of the 2024 National Senior Certificate (NSC) results by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga in Midrand, Johannesburg, on Wednesday – she could not contain her excitement.
“I worked with friends in study groups, that helped me a lot, and my parents and teachers were also supportive.
“I had to put in a lot of work considering that we didn’t have the latest computer technology. I had to travel afar to access an internet café and spend money,” said Malaba who plans on studying Actuarial Science.
Coming from a relatively disadvantaged school and background, Malaba didn’t allow that to stand in her way.
“I am proud of my results even though I experienced a lot of challenges. I had a lot of academic work to do and on the other hand I had to worry about my university application – taking into account that there are so few places at tertiary institutions. I also worried about getting a bursary.”
Another top achiever was Mulovhedzi Tovhowani from Thoyandou Secondary who took first place in quintile three category nationally. The shy 17-year-old will study medicine at the UCT.
“I was really surprised, I keep waiting for someone to tell me it was a joke,” Mulovhedzi, who received distinctions said.
She attributed her performance to her teachers and parents, who she said were educationally oriented.
“I had to work hard and sacrifice a lot of things because I wanted to fulfil my dreams of becoming a medical doctor that is why I pushed myself no matter what.”
She said her mother was a teacher at her school making things awkward at times.
Her mother attempted to avoid teaching her‚ but landed up taking her English class a few times.
Both learners are from Limpopo which achieved 62.5% pass rate when excluding progressed learners. This is down from 65.9% in 2024, a decline of 3.4%.
The national pass rate without progressed learners is 76.2%, while the national pass rate with progressed learners is 72.5%.
Free State was the best performing province with a pass rate of 88.2%. Eastern Cape was the worst performing with 59.3%.
The overall top learner was Conrad Strydom from the Western Cape. – SAnews.gov.za