BY PHUMLANI SAUL
Molly Blackburn High School is known for making headlines for all the wrong reasons, usually falling among the worst-performing schools in the Kariega district.
But with a 10% increase in its matric results and a hero’s welcome for their top pupil of 2022, the school in KwaNobuhle seeks to rewrite its history.SCHOOL HERO: Molly Blackburn High School’s top matric Bathiniwam Vusani, who achieved four distinctions, with his proud maths teacher Vuyiswa Hempe-Size
There was a buzz of excitement in the schoolyard as dozens of matrics lined up outside the designated classroom to receive their results.
One by one they exited — some with smiles, others with frowns.
Then suddenly a teacher came wading through the crowd, repeatedly shouting: “Make way! Top student coming through!”
The excited crowd erupted into deafening cheers as a shy boy, with his head bowed and his cap pulled over his eyes, was led to the front of the line to receive his results.
And as Bathiniwam Vusani walked through the crowd of classmates he received hugs, high fives and pats on the back as they all rallied behind the top achiever of their 2022 class.
When asked how it felt to be such an inspiration to his fellow pupils, he just shook his head.
“I never intended for anyone to look at me like this. I just wanted to study and get good grades so that I can pursue my law degree. That’s all,” Vusani said, with a shy smile on his face.
“But if some of my classmates take inspiration from me, and some of the younger children see me as an example they can follow, then I am happy for them and I encourage them to work hard for what they want to achieve.”
Vusani achieved distinctions for four of his seven subjects; maths literacy, geography, life orientation and isiXhosa home language.
For the remaining three subjects — life science, history and English first additional language — he achieved level 6 grades.
Molly Blackburn High School’s top matric Bathiniwam Vusani, who achieved four distinctions, with his proud maths teacher Vuyiswa Hempe-Size
SCHOOL HERO: Molly Blackburn High School’s top matric Bathiniwam Vusani, who achieved four distinctions, with his proud maths teacher Vuyiswa Hempe-Size
Molly Blackburn High School is known for making headlines for all the wrong reasons, usually falling among the worst-performing schools in the Kariega district.
But with a 10% increase in its matric results and a hero’s welcome for their top pupil of 2022, the school in KwaNobuhle seeks to rewrite its history.
There was a buzz of excitement in the schoolyard as dozens of matrics lined up outside the designated classroom to receive their results.
One by one they exited — some with smiles, others with frowns.
Then suddenly a teacher came wading through the crowd, repeatedly shouting: “Make way! Top student coming through!”
The excited crowd erupted into deafening cheers as a shy boy, with his head bowed and his cap pulled over his eyes, was led to the front of the line to receive his results.
And as Bathiniwam Vusani walked through the crowd of classmates he received hugs, high fives and pats on the back as they all rallied behind the top achiever of their 2022 class.
When asked how it felt to be such an inspiration to his fellow pupils, he just shook his head.
“I never intended for anyone to look at me like this. I just wanted to study and get good grades so that I can pursue my law degree. That’s all,” Vusani said, with a shy smile on his face.
“But if some of my classmates take inspiration from me, and some of the younger children see me as an example they can follow, then I am happy for them and I encourage them to work hard for what they want to achieve.”
Vusani achieved distinctions for four of his seven subjects; maths literacy, geography, life orientation and isiXhosa home language.
For the remaining three subjects — life science, history and English first additional language — he achieved level 6 grades.
“I am very happy about my results. For some of my subjects, I was very nervous and once I handed them in and knew my marks were in someone else’s hands, I became even more nervous.
“But now that I have my results, I can see that my hard work paid off, and I am satisfied with my performance.”
What made Vusani such a hero among his fellow pupils was the time he took to assist some of them to study, helping them with work they did not understand, and getting them ready ahead of the final exams.
Looking ahead, he hopes his marks are good enough to get him into university for his LLB degree.
If not, he plans to study at a nearby college to gain the necessary skills and knowledge to then pursue a career in legal studies.
Molly Blackburn principal Unathi Bhe said he was proud of Vusani and the pupils who put in the work to make 2022 a much improved year.
He thanked the district education office for assisting the school with additional tutors to help pupils with additional classes in a handful of subjects they identified as problem areas early in the year, and praised his staff for their dedication to their subjects and the pupils they taught.
“Every school strives for great results, and taking our circumstances and the school’s history, into account, an improvement from 55% to 65% is a huge achievement.
“We have already identified areas we need to improve on and the goal for this year’s matric class is an 80% pass rate,” Bhe said
Daily Kasi News 