Township pupil tops

Gauteng's top matriculant, Praise Ndebele, is a product of a no-fee school in the impoverished Ivory Park township, much to provincial education officials' delight.

Ndebele, 18, achieved eight distinctions, including full marks for maths and science.

He attended Ponelopele Secondary School, which is one of the 384 under-performing schools in the province.

These schools are the targets of the Gauteng education department's school improvement programme. They are given management support and textbooks.

Ndebele and about 60 000 pupils from disadvantaged schools were offered extra Saturday classes and matric revision camps.

The education department suggested that Ndebele's success and Gauteng's improved pass rate showed that the help being given to under-performing schools was effective.

Education MEC Barbara Creecy said: "In 2009, 188 schools participating in the intervention programme had less than 60% of their pupils passing. Now there are only 19 schools with pass rates lower than 60%."

Gauteng's matric pass mark was 87%, up by 9% from 2009.

The province also achieved a 17% increase in the number of university passes compared with 2012.

Ndebele said the department's Saturday classes contributed to his success.

Strangers posed with him for photographs yesterday, saying that he was "famous".

He said he had no celebration plans because he "didn't see this coming".

Ndebele's mother is a teacher at his school and taught him accounting for three years.

"He didn't ask for extra help at home. He has pride," said Cynthia Ndebele.

She said Praise was an independent young man who spent a lot of time studying.

Bucking trends, she educated her son in the township school.

She established all-night study camps for matriculants.

The Ponelopele pupils would spend Saturday nights studying and teaching each other until six in the morning.

The matriculant who came second in the province, Elizabeth Bekker, said setting goals contributed to her success.

Bekker attended the Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool, in Pretoria, as did the matriculant who was placed third in Gauteng, Wini-Louise Myburgh.

"My parents would be proud of me no matter what I achieved," Myburgh said.