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EDWIN NAIDU
AN incomplete classroom next to the principal’s office, meant to be a science laboratory, is a stark reminder of
the challenges facing teachers and learners at the City of Life Christian School in Brits.
School principal and passionate educator Mam Ncalo says the small private school registered with the North
West Department of Education, whose curriculum it follows, battles with having all the resources it needs to
make teaching and learning seamlessly.
Formed seven years ago to provide education for children in the community, the school does not receive a government subsidy, meaning it relies on school fees for survival. Unlike the traditional private schools, City of
Life subscribes to the government curriculum and seeks to offer education to children in and around Brits and
nearby Letlhabile.
While private schools in the country belong to the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa, the largest, oldest and most inclusive independent schools association, critics allege that while they have opened doors to Black pupils, the principals are primarily white, and so are the majority of staff. But their results ensure that their high fees with excellent resources usually give their learners a superb springboard for success.
The main difference between public and private schools is that private schools are run independently of the
government and are in charge of their curriculum, ethos and funding, often thriving through contributions of
parents, students, alumni and donors.
The City of Life Christian School is different from your typical private school. Set on the dusty ground opposite
a busy filling station, the school operates in a church hall, with 168 pupils from grade R to matric, although it
can accommodate up to 400 learners.
The school is staffed by 17 teachers. Four classes meet in the large church hall, while the remaining children
are spread across four small classrooms on the church property. But when it comes to performing science
experiments, funds ran out when building the laboratory, thwarting efforts to show children experiments about chemical reactions.
In 2022, 14 pupils wrote the matric exams. Half of the learners failed, while the remaining seven were allowed
to rewrite papers during the supplementary examinations. One out of four candidates writing matric in 2021
passed, while in 2020, out of seven, only one passed. Last year 14 pupils sat the examinations, with just one
pupil passing. Seven matriculants were allowed to write supplementary examinations.
“We worked hard throughout the year; it was disappointing when the results came out. I do feel that the parents did not play their part,” says Ncalo, who has been teaching for 34 years and is still passionate about her profession.
“If parents work with teachers, we can achieve more to ensure what is being taught in the classroom is
reinforced by extra work and parental supervision at home,” she adds.
Ncalo says that with five matric pupils enrolled in 2023, the school has reorganised teaching staff and resolved
to understand why they had not done well in the past three years and work towards ensuring learners and teachers are on the same page this year.
Asked what would help the school on the path to success, Ncalo, who drives daily from Pretoria to Brits, says
more resources are needed. We want to appeal to businesses to support us by investing in education, finish
the building so we can teach and conduct science experiments, for example,” she pleads.
Ncalo says she loves teaching and engaging with pupils, especially in the classroom. However, she has observed that teachers are less committed to their careers, with some leaving because they could earn more money elsewhere.
But she hopes that despite limited resources and with the support of businesses, the school can step up and
do better with the five candidates in the matric class of 2023.
Regarding physical education, the school has a playground and children participate in volleyball, athletics and soccer. Infrastructure, learning facilities such as laboratories and libraries, playgrounds and teaching resources continue to differentiate between public and township schools, which shows disparities when results are announced.
But little seems to have changed in bringing about parity for learners, although all provinces had shown
improvement in their overall Grade 12 final exam results.
“We worked hard throughout the year; it was disappointing when the results came out. I do feel that the
parents did not play their part,” says Ncalo, who has been teaching for 34 years and is still passionate about
her profession.
“If parents work with teachers, we can achieve more to ensure what is being taught in the classroom is reinforced by extra work and parental supervision at home,” adds Ncalo.
She says that with five matric pupils enrolled in 2023, the school reorganised teaching staff and resolved to understand why they had not done well in the past three years and work towards ensuring learners and teachers are on the same page this year.
Asked what would help the school on the path to success, Ncalo, who drives daily from Pretoria to Brits, says
more resources are needed. We want to appeal to businesses to support us by investing in education, finish
the building so we can teach and conduct science experiments, for example,” she pleads.
About 80 kilometres from the Brits school is the Hoërskool Menlopark in Pretoria, the top performing public school in Gauteng. Last year they had 330 pupils who wrote matric with a 97% pass rate. Only three learners failed to obtain a bachelor’s pass.
The school was founded in 1963 by renowned painter Bettie Cilliers-Barnard. Initially, it had 12 classrooms and 372 pupils. But they’ve grown substantially since and now have 1 650 pupils with an average class size of 22 and 25 learners.
The school is on an expansive property with luscious green fields comprising three rugby fields, hockey courts,
athletics fields, five tennis courts, five netball courts, a sports stand over- looking at the ground and a gym. The
school also has a golf academy.
They have well-equipped laboratories and multi-media library facilities, ensuring pupils have the best learning
tools.
To cope with the growth in the number of learners, the school also built residences and is still considering the
expansion of facilities as part of an ongoing pro- cess determined by budget and availability of resources.
“In everything we do, we in still in pupils the desire to have a strong work ethic to be the best when it comes
to academic work,” says Nico Erasmus, the deputy principal in his 33rd year at the school.
Erasmus was a former pupil, completed matric in the seventies and joined the school in 1992. “Our values are
based on integrity, respect, diligence and loyalty,” he adds.
“Our focus is to ensure that not only are they academically strong when they leave, but they are responsible
adults,” Erasmus says. Most of their matric pupils pursue further studies at universities with a high success rate
of students who complete their degrees.
Their former pupils include André de Ruyter, the former Eskom boss, who matriculated in 1985.
Founder of the Firstrand Group Laurie Dippenaar finished matric in 1966, actress Jana Cilliers was in the class the year before, while Springbok coach and player Rudolf Straeuli matriculated in 1981, soapy actress Amalia Uys in 2002, Olympics swimmer Gideon Louw in 2010, and three recent national cricket players Rassie van der Dussen
(2007), Heinrich Klassen (2009) and Theunis de Bruyn (2010).
“If you want to be a successful school, there’s nothing we do that is extraordinary. We have and continue to
maintain a strong culture, ensuring learner buy-in, and get strong parental support to assist in our planning,”
notes Erasmus.
He says one of their proudest achievements was helping learners acclimate to online studies during the COVID-19 pandemic with no failure at the end of the year.
Erasmus says that as a state school, half of the contribution from the government is used on salaries. At the
same time, parents contribute to the purchase of sporting facilities so they can ensure their children are given
the best.
National Pass Rate
The 80.1% pass rate in the 2022 National Senior Certificate exam pass rate was the second highest in South
Africa since 2019.
But for the country’s best and the worst performing schools, it remains a case of the “haves” continuing to stay
ahead of the “have-nots” in almost three decades of democracy.
Inside Education visited four schools in Gauteng and the North-West to probe the conditions of the best and
worst performing schools to provide a window into the disparities and how they affected their performance.
Hoërskool Menlopark was the top performing public school in Gauteng, followed by Hoërskool Waterkloof,
Hoërskool Garsfontein, Afrikaanse Hoër Meisies.
Gauteng’s worst-performing public schools were Simunye Secondary School, Sehopotso Secondary School,
Dinoto Technical Secondary, Lefa-Ifa Secondary School and Dr BW Vilakazi Secondary School.
Gauteng Department of Education Spokesperson Steve Mabona says the department wants accountability for results,
particularly in underperforming schools, with the purpose not to punish the management, teachers and learners but rather to provide the right combination of incentives, support and resources that will bring the changes to improve the quality of education in those schools.
Mabona says that the department will meet the public schools that performed below 65% to put into place interventions to prove the performance of these schools. improve
“We are accelerating interventions in underperforming schools to ensure the future success of all learners,” he
adds.
According to Mabona, the Secondary Schools Improvement Programme (SSIP), a GDE supplementary tuition
programme being implemented across the province, is a core programme focusing on poorly performing schools and schools that have experienced disruptions.
Overall, KwaZulu-Natal had the most significant improvement at 6.2% from last year, which puts them at an
83% pass rate in the matric examination in 2022. But 20 schools in Zululand, Uthukela, Umzinyathi,
Umgungundlovu, Pinetown, Umlazi and King Cetshwayo districts achieved pass rates of 10% to 37,8%.
The Mgwempisi Combined School in the Umzinyathi district achieved a 10% pass rate, with only one of the ten
pupils who wrote matric passing the exams. The Mthaniya Combined School in the Uthukela District recorded
a 14.9% pass rate, and the Zithume High School in the King Cetshwayo District attained 18.2%. Mthaniya and
Zithume have yet to achieve a pass rate of more than 40% in the past three years.
In March, all schools that achieved a pass rate of less than 40% in the 2022 matric results were ordered to
account to the MEC for Education, Mbali Frazer and the head of the department Nkosinathi Ngcobo for their
poor performance and outline plans to improve in 2023.
But while having top-class facilities and playgrounds are critical, Deputy head of Hoërskool Garsfontein,
Maggie Holliday, says the staff at the school are incredibly hard-working and caring towards the children.
“They go the extra mile. We have many children who are academically weak, but for me, the biggest achievement is getting the average child to move up one symbol you don’t see in the papers”.
She adds that as a state school, it is sponsorship and support of businesses that have made it possible to
upgrade facilities and sporting amenities without which they could not afford it.
The school governing body is integral as a partner with the school management in setting goals for learners
and teachers. “Being in Pretoria East, we have many poorer pupils. When there’s no money, parents – be they
plumbers or whatever – try and get all things done for the good of the school,” says Holli- day.
Losing out to Hoërskool Menlopark was disappointing as the school finished Number 1 in 2021 as part of a hat-
trick of top spots.
“When they say you’re number one or three, or whatever because there were only 12 points between the top three schools. But you are excited and say yes, you are number one, but does that matter? My challenge is to get those children, your average child, to improve not only the top, but we cannot only focus on those children,” adds Holliday.