Ayabukwa among top achievers in the province
The principal of Manzomthombo High School in Mfuleni has applauded parents, pupils and his teaching staff for their role in continuing to put his school on the map and producing a good matric pass rate each year.
John Mathiso was delighted with his pupils’ matric results - and that the school produced one of the top pupils in the province, Ayabukwa Nombela.
Ayabukwa achieved second place in the category for quintile 3 (no-fee) schools in the Western Cape.
Mr Mathiso said he was elated and “very proud” of what his school continues to achieve.
“It has been a tough year but I must thank the parents for allowing us to teach their children even during the hardest time of Covid-19. We had to call children to school. Again a big thank you goes to my staff for risking their lives and allowing me to come to school during coronavirus and on weekends.” he told Vukani.
Meanwhile the school’s top achiever, Ayabukwa, and her parents said they were excited to start the next chapter of their lives.
She achieved an 88% aggregate and distinctions in each of her six subjects. The 17-year-old achieved 95% in physical science, 99% in life science, 98% in history 98%, 97% in maths, 91% in isiXhosa and 88% in English.
Ayabukwa is also elated that she will be studying medicine at the University of Cape Town. “I applied to UCT and Stellenbosch and both institutions accepted me but I chose UCT. I want to be a doctor,” she said.
She has praised her teachers and thanked them for what they did for the school. “It was not possible without the help of my teachers. I could not have done this alone, the teachers were very supportive. My parents too played a big role,” she said.
Her excited parents, Noliyema and Thembinkosi Betani, have high hopes for her and speak highly of their shy daughter.
“She is a hard worker of note. If she wants to achieve 90 in a certain subject and get 88, she won’t be happy,” said an emotional Ms Betani.
“She puts too much pressure on herself and I will always advise her not to do that. But she's that kind of a person who does not rest until she gets what she wants. We are so proud of her.”
Her father said even the fact that they do not have the best living conditions that could hold his daughter back.
The family stays in the informal settlement of eNkanini in Khayelitsha. “We are living in a very bad area but that is not an excuse. We gave her the support she needed all the time. She works tirelessly. She would sleep for a very long time and wake to do her school work until early hours of the morning. She is very focused on her school work. She is our pride,” he said.
Mr Mathiso said the school hoped to continue the positive trajectory with the class of 2021 and that talk of a third wave of Covid-19 infections had forced the school to start preparations early.