South Africa fares poorly in mathematics and science, based on world standards, but the numerous trophies and certificates that adorn the principal’s office at Mbilwi Secondary school in the Northern Province prove that hard work pays off.
Last year one of its educators won the Sowetan/Protec Maths and Science Teacher of the Year contest. Along with its many awards, the school has become a symbol of hope and pride for the Northern Province. Mbilwi has achieved a 100% matric pass rate since 1995.
Principal Nditsheni Ramugondo says the secret behind Mbilwi’s success is simple: discipline and dedication to the goals of the school.
Mbilwi has 13 classes with around 700 pupils from grade 8 to grade 12, “Our learners are disciplined, committed and dedicated,” says Ramugondo.
The school takes a hard line against absenteeism. If students are absent, when they return, they must come to school with their parents. There is no bunking of lessons and constant communication between parents, teachers and learners. Pupils not arriving on time are punished with a heavier workload while some have to dig the schoolgrounds.
All teachers have a checklist to assess whether they have completed their syllabuses by July. When schools re-open after July they start with the revision: teaching starts on the first day and Saturday schools accommodate pupils from other schools. None of the 17 teachers at Mbilwi has a free period in the class roster.
“Most people think Mbilwi is a new school,” says Rumgondo, but the school was established in 1977 as a science school in the former homeland of Venda. Thirty-five pupils wrote its first matric exams in 1979 and the school achieved an 85% pass rate. In its second attempt at the matric examinations in 1980, the school recorded a 93.8% pass rate. Rumogondo says it is not only the results they are concerned with: “It’s the quality of results.”
In 1999 the Northern Province produced only 5% of exemptions from its overall 36% pass rate. The school’s outstanding results have not gone unnoticed as various tertiary institutions, including the University of Cape Town and Pretoria Technikon, have written letters of appreciation to the school, for supplying them with competent students. Richard Sindane, a pupil, agrees with the principal’s secret for good performance, and says the internal examinations set by the school are more tough to pass than the external examinations.
Mbilwi also has a proud tradition in which teachers and pupils enjoy a good rapport. The over-all hard work and tough examination papers set by educators at the school only serve to reinforce the heavy amount of work pupils have to put in in order to make the grade.
No wonder they were smiling when the 2000 matriculation results were announced on December 29.
Top teacher leaves
One of the key contributors to Mbilwi’s success over the past decade has decided to take up a new challenge at the Sasa Combined Independent School in Venda. Award-winning maths and science educator Stanley Thabane, winner of last year’s Telkom/Sowetan/Protec Maths and Science Teacher of the Year Award, has left to join an independent science school in the Northern Province.
“I am going to the school to assist in re-enforcement,” says Thabane, who notes that his school, which started with 22 learners in a rented space, is growing very fast.Thabane may be lost to Mbilwi, but fortunately, he is not lost to the learners who can but only improve from having him show them how to figure out the route to success.
— The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, January, 2001.