Matrics study overtime

With just over a month to go until the final matric exams, thousands of pupils in Gauteng are attending Saturday classes every weekend.

The extra lessons, at 109 schools, are part of the provincial education department's secondary school improvement plan, which targets 391 under-performing schools that achieved a matric pass rate of below 80% last year.

At the Diepsloot Combined School, you could mistake a Saturday for a normal school day. More than 200 pupils from seven high schools were there to learn on Saturday.

Anna Letswalo, 19, from Itirele-Zenzele Secondary School, in Diepsloot, doesn't mind giving up a weekend morning to study.

"When you come to school you gain knowledge. When you sit at home and do nothing, life is not moving," she said.

Letswalo, who wants to become a sound engineer, formed a study group that meets four nights a week.

"Education is essential. You can't work without a certificate. I want to get a certificate and get work so I can help my younger brother and sister go to school."

She said the extra classes have helped her prepare for the final exams because they have exposed her to different teaching styles.

Only the best teachers in the province give the extra classes.

Letswalo has crammed into a class with 80 other pupils, listening intently to Plantina Nkuzana teach English.

Not all the students have a desk but the passionate teacher has their undivided attention as she revises short stories and gives them advice about answering exam questions.

Nkuzana, a teacher at Cosmo City Secondary One, said her pupils at the extra classes are very committed.

"They really want to be here - it's not compulsory. It's very encouraging."

She doesn't mind sacrificing her Saturday mornings.

"I love teaching. Every day my best moments are when I'm in class."

The school day at Diepsloot, from 8am to 3pm, is divided into four periods of 90 minutes, with 10-minute breaks between each period and a 30-minute lunch break. On Saturday, English, maths, maths literacy, accounting and life sciences are covered.

Pupils who do not take any of these subjects form study groups to work through old exam papers in other subjects.

Gauteng education spokesman Charles Phahlane said the classes, which target 48000 pupils, have been well supported, with attendances averaging between 70% and 80%.

Eighteen-year-old Honest Khumalo, from Diepsloot Combined School, has not missed a Saturday since the classes kicked off in February.

"Education is the righteous path," said Khumalo, who plans to study communications at the University of Johannesburg.

"I come from a disadvantaged community that is notorious for bad things. Most people have no university experience. I want to show that not everything from Diepsloot is bad."