Console Tleane visits Aha-Thuto Secondary, based in Orange Farm – a school defying the odds
The indisputable observation made by education analysts is that schools from poor communities produce poor results. This is largely due to inhibiting factors such as lack of resources, lack of adequate training for teachers, and the sheer poverty of the learners, whose backgrounds prevent them from showing maximum potential in their studies.
Very few analysts can dispute this basic fact. In the midst of this reality, there are some schools which have defied the hurdle of their backgrounds and gone on to produce very good results. One of these schools is Aha-Thuto Secondary, based in Orange Farm, an informal settlement in Gauteng. Established in 1993, Aha-Thuto started off as two schools, Jabulile Secondary and Nomini Primary, which are 1,5km apart from each other. Managing the school was difficult because it required shuttling between the two schools.
It was these conditions which sowed the seeds of dedication and excellence at the school. Realising the difficult conditions under which they were operating, Aha-Thuto’s teachers decided that instead of starting the school day at 7.45am, as most schools do, their school would start at 7am. They also decided that they would have teaching on Saturdays, from 8am to 1.30pm. These sacrifices were soon to bear fruit.
The school’s results started to rocket in 1995, when it attained a 76% matric pass rate. Since then the results have been steadily increasing, with 1998 being the highest at 98,5%. Last year, the school attained a 94,8% pass rate.
As matric learners sat down for another round of exams, the focus was again on Aha-Thuto. Goli Hadebe, who has been the principal since the school’s establishment, said he was hopeful that the school would continue to do well.
Asked what the school’s secret formula to maintain high standards was, Hadebe replied: “We do uncommon things commonly well. We combine dedication with discipline. For instance, we start the school day at 7am every day for all grade 11 and 12 learners. We also come to school on Saturdays and even during holidays. Our school never closes.
“We also have very dedicated teachers who never complain about having to work on Saturdays and during holidays. In fact, it was our teachers who came with the suggestion that we should work on Saturdays and during weekends.”
Like any other school, Aha-Thuto has its own share of difficult learners. “We do not teach angels. Whenever we have a problem with a learner, we involve their parents. What I have learnt about learners is that they never want their parents to know that they do wrong things. So involving parents acts as a good deterrent for bad behaviour or lack of co-operation,” said Hadebe.
“What is even more important is that I am a leader more than a manager. I try to lead by example. I arrive at school at 7 and leave at 5 in the afternoon. If you can do that as a leader then you will have very few problems with your teachers.”
Another interesting thing about the school is that all learners have to take mathematics, irrespective of the stream they are in.
The school has three streams: the natural sciences, economic and management sciences, and the human sciences.
As is the case with many other schools that perform well, Aha-Thuto has turned into a focal point for major companies that want to invest in education. The most recent approaches the school has received is from PriceWaterhouseCoopers accounting firm, which has pledged to upgrade the school’s library at a cost of R25 000. College Campus has pledged to upgrade the school’s computer centre. Other companies that are associated with the school are Telkom, Lucent Technologies and Standard Bank. Besides a dedicated teaching staff, the school’s governing body is very supportive. This helps to motivate teachers even further and to encourage parents to take more interest in the education of their children.
Hadebe said the school hasn’t allowed itself to be subjected to pressure always to perform better. He feels that his school performs better than most other schools because it has a unique curriculum with maths as a compulsory subject, whereas many other schools offer “softer” curriculum choices. Hadebe’s message to other principals and teachers is similar to that of many other principals who head well-performing schools situated in poor communities: “We need to work very hard to bring black learners from white schools. We are capable enough to do what those schools do. We can even do better.”
Indeed, if many other school communities can put more effort into turning themselves into centres of excellence, learners from poor communities can be afforded the chance to break the circle of poverty and the perception that the poor can’t attain a better life.
– The Teacher/M&G Media, Johannesburg, December 2001.