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With the finish line in sight, many matrics are in the process of gearing themselves up for the upcoming national exams.
In preparation for this, learners at Zeekoevlei High School, which is celebrating 40 years of existence, will once again be part of a prayer meeting where they will be given stationery sponsored to the school, according to Vincent “Oom Kallie” Carelse.
“We get the stationery from people who sponsor us from Yorkshire and Liverpool. We buy some stationery and we give it to them. They get a prayer service. They normally start on a Monday in October, so we do the donation (before then) and they go on. That is one of the good things (happening at the school). Then of course, they get good results from there because they are blessed,” he says.
William Prinsloo, principal of Zeekoevlei High School, says this is the fifth year that the Anglican Parish of St Augustine’s in Lotus River will host the prayer meeting dedicated to their matriculants.
“We think they do need prayer. Although prayer without work, according to the Bible, is not successful, but we at least try to get them into the realisation that they really need to start studying for the final exams. We take all of them and pray for them. I say something in the church and everyone prays. It certainly makes them more ready for the exams, to knuckle down and really start studying.”
Prinsloo says the school still offers learners the opportunity to study at school throughout the year. “Some might not even have study facilities at home, so we provide them with those facilities while also feeding them. That is also a success story for us. So besides the prayer we ensure that they come and sit down and study. Once they leave here, we don’t know if they are really going to study at home. As a result we supervise their studying and we feed them. It means extra hours for the teachers, but we have to make that sacrifice,” he adds.
In the lead-up to the September and then final exams, Zeekoevlei expects an upward trend following disappointing overall results in June.
“The past few years we have been up in the 80s, as high as 98% in 2016 and in 2014 we only had a single failure. Last year we had five, so we need to remedy that. We have been working with them since the beginning of the year to ensure better success. We have a guardian system where I am responsible for three matriculants. Every time I meet with them and check what their progress is like. Likewise every educator is a guardian of a ward, to make contact with them, check what their challenges are and see how we can support them.”
