Last week Friday Mandilake Futa, a former Gadra Matric School (GMS) graduate, was awarded a R250 prize for his response to a recent survey conducted of graduates from 2005 to 2010 to get feedback on what tertiary studies they had completed and whether they had secured employment.
Last week Friday Mandilake Futa, a former Gadra Matric School (GMS) graduate, was awarded a R250 prize for his response to a recent survey conducted of graduates from 2005 to 2010 to get feedback on what tertiary studies they had completed and whether they had secured employment.
More than 50 Gadra Matric School alumni responded to the SMS-survey. Many had good-news stories to tell. After their year at the school, they had moved on to tertiary studies, attaining tertiary degrees, diplomas and certificates.
Some have secured employment and are developing careers that are making a difference in Grahamstown, the Eastern Cape and beyond, says Melanie Lancaster, the school's principal.
When Lancaster presented Mandilake, a 2005 GMS graduate, with his prize, he said, “I treasured my year at Gadra Matric School and hope that Gadra Education will continue to play its role as a recognised education institution in Grahamstown and beyond for many years.”
e also said he would put the R250 prize into his nephew’s education savings.
After graduating from Gadra, Futa studied Travel and Tourism at PE College and went on to manage his mother’s B&B. He is now the Coordinator of the Nafcoc Cacadu region and runs skills workshops for unemployed youth.
Ali Adam, Nafcoc President for the Cacadu Region and Mandilake’s boss, said, “Mandi is a role model and inspires youngsters in his community.”
This is the Gadra Matric School's 16th year of running its one-year full-time programme of classes to prepare students to re-write selected National Senior Certificate subjects.
The school has achieved excellent Matric results over the years, placing it in the top 5% of all Eastern Cape state schools.
"In a context where unemployment is rife, the Gadra Matric School follows with interest the career development of its alumni, hoping that on the basis of an improved matric,they will successfully complete tertiary studies and develop meaningful careers," said Gadra Chairman, Professor Paul Walters.
Walters said 2011 had been a year of significant change for Gadra Education, and the Gadra Matric School in particular. The organisation had embarked on a major programme of strategic renewal, designed to position it for increased delivery and impact, and greater sustainability. The Gadra Matric School had its largest intake ever this year, with 132 students studying to re-write their National Senior Certificate exams in November 2011.
“We are expecting good results for 2011,” said the new Gadra Education Manager, Ashley Westaway.
Several Gadra Matric School students have graduated from university and pursued academic careers. Unathi Kolanisi (1996), for example, submitted her PhD at the beginning of 2010 to North-West University and is lecturing at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Some former students have gone into the military and correctional services where they have studied further while receiving their training. Other avenues that GMS students have pursued are FET Colleges, Damelin, Boston College and some have done apprenticeships. One 2008 graduate, for example, is in his 3rd year at the Denel Technical College studying Aircraft Structures.
Twenty of the class of 2010 are studying further. The bulk of these alumni are at Rhodes, Fort Hare and the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. They are registered for a wide range of degrees and diplomas, from BSc and BComm, to Diploma Courses in Environmental Health Science and Conservation.
Four of the class of 2010 have already secured employment. One 2010 graduate is doing a two-year course as a trainee pharmacist's assistant, while working in the Makana sub-district clinics.
Others have proceeded to become:
Teachers: Sakhumzi Ngqina, 2000; Kezia Meyer, 2001; Ntsika Kitsili, 2005; Nicola Currie, 2008);
Lawyers: Papama Magqwashe, Dux 2003, Bruce Wessels, Dux 1996, currently working for the Hawks in PE);
Journalists: Anele Mjekula graduated in 2010 and now has a permanent job at The Rep in Queenstown; Loyiso Dyongman, 2007, got a National Diploma in Journalism and is now working at East Cape Today.
