An 18-year old Mary Waters pupil, Sibusiso Dwani, has beaten the odds to pass at the top of his class, earning himself a sought-after place at Rhodes University.
An 18-year old Mary Waters pupil, Sibusiso Dwani, has beaten the odds to pass at the top of his class, earning himself a sought-after place at Rhodes University.
He has been accepted for a Bachelor of Science degree and said he couldn't wait for the semester to start. Dwani passed Life Orientation and Life Sciences with distinction, and achieved above 70% in three other subjects.
He applied last year with his mid-year results, his first choice being Pharmacy, but although he was accepted at the University of Fort Hare for this course, he preferred to take the Rhodes option of a BSc degree. Dwani's splendid results were as follows:Life Orientation 87%, Life Science 80%, Geography 79%, Physics 78%, Maths 76% and English Home Language 61%.
The new initiate from N street in Tantyi is an example to many young learners who come from a poor background. He lives in a two-roomed house that he shares with six family members. He said the road to his success was not easy as he had to improvise a study space.
"I didn't have a study room so I had to wait for everyone to go to bed before I could study quietly," he explained.
Dwani lost both his parents and is living under the guidance of his grandmother. He attributed his success to both his grandmother and the teachers. "I would like to thank my teachers for all their support, especially our principal Mrs Coetzee for pushing me to study hard, as well as my grandmother for the unwavering support," he said.
Grandmother Lulama Dwani could not contain her excitement when speaking to Grocott's Mail about her grandson. She said Sibusiso is a very special child who loves going to church and listening to music. "We always fight because he listens to English radio stations and I can't understand English, but he is a good boy".
A teacher at Mary Waters High school, Errol Goliath, said the school did well under very difficult circumstances. He said the school was closed for a week last year due to the loss of 11 teachers. "Imagine if we had a full complement of teachers, we would've achieved even better results," he said.
Goliath attributed the school's success to hard work from both teachers and pupils. The school achieved a 76 % pass rate, with 20 Bachelor, 30 Diploma and 22 Certificate passes from the 95 pupils who sat for the exams.
