Mncedi Mtengwana, the principal of Solomon Mahlangu Secondary School in KwaNobuhle, Kariega (Uitenhage), has had one milestone in mind for the past decade. It was not a 100% pass rate for his school’s matrics.

“I think we will get there in the next two years, but what I want is for this school to produce human beings that can change their community for the better, and for that we need them to study hard,” he said.

His school is in an area rife with crime, scheduled and unscheduled power cuts, vandalism, unemployment, and drug and alcohol abuse. In 1995, the school’s pass rate was about 20%.

But against all odds – with love, discipline and motivation – he has been inching his school forward since he took over the leadership 13 years ago.

This year, his school achieved an 87.5% pass rate, and he is convinced that it will hit 100% in two years. Although that is the milestone, the real achievement, Mtengwana tells his pupils often, is that they must be the good human beings who will change a community fraught with problems.

Mncedi Mtengwana, the principal of Solomon Mahlangu Secondary School in KwaNobuhle, Kariega (Uitenhage), 19 January 2024. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)

Dr Bruce Damons, a specialist in community schools at Nelson Mandela University, said: “When we look at schools like this, they work and they are shining beacons not because of their results but because they produce great human beings.

“A positive school culture is how we should measure the success of a school. I advocate for focus to be shifted from the outcome to the process.”

Mtengwana’s school is so popular that some parents sell admission forms for R100 each. On admission day, parents start lining up at the gates before 6am.

“I get annoyed,” said education expert Professor Jonathan Jansen, “when parents are blamed for trying their very best to send their children to the best school, whether it is out of their suburb or out of their province.

“Parents are not stupid. They know that a successful education is key to their child’s future and to the family getting out of poverty.”

Pupils from Solomon Mahlangu Secondary School in KwaNobuhle, Kariega (Uitenhage), celebrate after the release of matric results, 19 January 2024. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)

It has been a tough few years for Mtengwana and he remains concerned about teaching time that was missed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I am expecting better results this year, but due to Covid-19, we have about 33 learners who were progressed, not promoted. We staged an intervention to make sure they have the best chance to pass.

“My approach is to set a target for the learners and then make sure they know how they can reach it. If they don’t agree with our proposal, we discuss how we can make it work.”

Mtengwana has set a matric pass rate of 95% for the Class of 2025 and 100% for 2026.

“This was not an easy journey,” he said. “Our school is in an area where many people are not literate. Unemployment is rife. Parents rely on the school as well.

“I tell the children all the time: this community must not be the same in a few years because of you. You can make a positive change.”

To improve food security, Mtengwana has offered school land to parents to create gardens, and the school buys vegetables from parents for its nutrition programme.

“The parents also look after our school. We never have cases of vandalism here, not even when the school is closed.”

To improve teaching and boost school culture, Mtengwana had to make a plan – and it was a revolutionary one.

“I thought, what if the children wanted to do this, not us? What if we just helped them?”

He recruited a full-time social worker to join the staff to help learners struggling with substance abuse and violence at home.

“We want nothing that makes it hard for the children to study,” he said.

“One year, there was a problem with Maths. We sat down with the learners and we asked them: How can we teach you better? We learnt a lot from that. In the fourth term, we implemented what they suggested and our results went up.

“We ask that teachers account for their results. I attend classes every day and make sure that the learners are taught well.

“I talk to the learners often to hear if they struggle with anything. You cannot have a plan without them. We tell them every day, you take responsibility for your results.

“Excellence is the school culture now.

“I have an open-door policy. We invite parents and teachers to come to share how they think we can improve.”

But Mtengwana is also strict about maintaining discipline. “This is the foundation of everything.”

To motivate children to pass, the school relaxes the rules on hairstyles for Grade 12s. In lower grades, only natural hair is allowed.

“But when they reach Grade 12, they can do whatever they want,” Mtengwana said. “The children find that very motivating.”

Though the school sometimes uses phones for teaching, the general rule is that phones are not allowed.

“When I confiscate a phone, I set a target for the learner to perform academically before they can get them back,” he said.

“Let me tell you the story of five boys. Good friends. They were all repeating their grade. I caught them with phones during recess and I took the phones. I told them they must pass to get their phones back.

“But by the fourth term, they were still not doing well. I found them and I reminded them about the phones. The end of that year, they passed their grade and even today they are still doing well.

“You have to be patient,” Mtengwana said. “We must never forget that we are working with human beings.”

Damons said: “I think we must revisit what we define as an elite school. Success shouldn’t be measured by matric passes. It should be measured in building a strong school culture. Leadership like this is absolutely critical in a school and there are bodies of research to prove this.

“But also it is essential, especially in our socioeconomically marginalised communities, that a leader has a high degree of empathy with all stakeholders – teachers, learners, parents and the community.

“It is so important how we relate to one another and how we care for one another. The focus must be more on the process than the output…

“For me, a successful school is one of those where, when there is food left over from the nutrition programme, parents in need can come collect a plate of food.”

Jansen agreed. He said communities are needed to create truly successful schools.

“The secret to a good school is leadership that drives outcomes. It takes time and, where you have excellent schools, the principal is often put under pressure to take more learners. People go where there is success.

“I think building relationships is so important and also a focus on advancing learning.

“Because, let’s be honest, it is brutal out there. Your heart breaks every day when you see teachers trying to survive every day on all kinds of medication.

“We must never stop. No kid is doing well until all kids are doing well.”

Boniswa Mfeka celebrates with fellow pupil Nhlakanipho Ngcobo at Dr Nembula High School near Durban. (Photo: Mandla Langa)

KZN school’s pass rate soars from 55% to 97%

Parents ululated and sang as they came to fetch the results of this year’s Grade 12 students at Dr Nembula High School in Adams Mission, south of Durban.

Parents and teachers embraced one another joyfully and reflected on how far the school has come.

Principal Mduduzi Nzimande has only been at the school for four years, but his impact has been phenomenal, as he has led the school from a 55% matric pass rate in 2019 to a 97% pass rate in 2024. The high school was at one point only achieving a lowly 14% pass rate.

‘Discipline’, ‘empathy’ and ‘collaboration’ are some of the words Nzimande uses when he describes what has created the gradual shift in the school.

“I listen to the teachers and make sure that they feel supported every step of the way. This [changes] how they teach and discipline the children,” said Nzimande.

Dr Nembula High School principal Mduduzi Nzimande. (Photo: Mandla Langa)

The deputy principal, Thobile Gcwensa, echoed this, saying Nzimande is hands-on and an anchor. Gcwensa is also the geography teacher and is elated that her class achieved a 100% pass rate.

The teachers say the success is a result of an active student governing body that helps them to maintain discipline and looks out for students who have difficulties at home.

Gcwensa says the school partners with organisations such as Bobbi Bear and others that provide professional psychosocial support to pupils. The school has a feeding scheme, but students say the teachers take money out of their own pockets to provide breakfast or dinner when the matric class does extra time.

Dr Nembula High School staff celebrate the matric results. (Photo: Mandla Langa)

Some of the school’s top-achieving students got six distinctions, including in challenging subjects such as Mathematics, Physics and Accounting.

Nhlakanipho Ngcobo (19), who received six distinctions in the science stream, says he wants to study to be a doctor. He is grateful for the support and recognition from his teachers, and says he was sent to Kutlwanong, a centre that helps students who are great at Mathematics and Science. This helped him to achieve his distinctions.

Boniswa Mfeka (22) obtained a diploma in 2018 and returned because she didn’t qualify for her chosen career as an accountant or auditor. “I managed my time well and many of us spent Monday to Sunday here, in study groups and extra classes, and that helped.

“Matric has a lot of pressure, so having a hobby and kind teachers helped a lot,” said Mfeka.

Nzimande has built a reputation for helping to steer schools with low or less-than-­average performances. Gcwensa says she encouraged him to apply to work at the school, as she had seen his work in Siphephele Secondary School, near Durban.

Members of the Mopani West District, which scooped several awards in the Limpopo Matric 2023 Senior Certificate Awards, celebrate during a ceremony to award top achievers in the province at The Ranch Protea Hotel near Polokwane, Limpopo. (Photo: Lucas Ledwaba / Mukurukuru Media)

Getting close to 100% was a joint effort, says principal

Three years ago, Raserite Secondary School in Limpopo scored a disappointing 46% matric pass rate.

Now the school in Ga-Seleka, one of the remotest parts of the province, is celebrating a 96.4% pass rate for 2023. It scored 76.4% the previous year.

Principal Noko Maremane, who joined the school in 2020, attributed the improvement to joint efforts by the community, teachers, learners and the traditional authority.

Maremane said the school had held three camps for matrics and Grade 11s since June. The last camp was held just two weeks before the start of the end-of-year exams.

“One of our key ingredients for success is to ensure that the learners head straight to class once they enter the school grounds,” said Maremane.

The Grade 11s and 12s start school as early as 6am and finish at 5pm.

When they go into camp, the school procures the services of external teachers to complement its teaching staff.

Maremane said they also used previous matric exams to drill their students further in their preparation.

Raserite is located in an area with high levels of poverty. Most of the learners have their only meal of the day at school as part of the National School Nutrition Programme. At the end of the term, teachers club together to buy meals for learners who would otherwise go hungry without the programme’s meals.

“Our understanding is that a learner who comes to school hungry will not be able to concentrate,” said Maremane.

The school achieved 15 distinctions. A total of 28 learners sat the exams and only one didn’t pass.

One of the top achievers in the province, who earned a 100% pass in Accounting, comes from Raserite.

Early last year, Maremane, who also teaches the Grade 12 Mathematics class, gave the student one of his cellphones to help her to access the internet and download important learner material.

“Everyone wants the learners to succeed. Teachers, the community members – everyone supports our efforts,” said Maremane.

Learners at Bhukulani Secondary School in Zondi, Soweto. (Photo: Bheki Simelane)

How the community helped a dysfunctional Soweto school

Before Mduduzi Maphindikazi Mathe became the principal of Bhukulani Secondary School in Soweto, the school was on the verge of closure. It was a crime hotspot and its buildings had been vandalised. But Mathe turned things around.

Although he has now retired as principal, his successors are still continuing to implement his successful strategy.

“I enjoyed the best support from all staff members, parents and the community around the school. That is how we were able to turn around a comprehensively dysfunctional school,” Mathe said.

“We had to put on our overalls, and begin refurbishing and renovating an almost completely dilapidated school,” Mathe said about his time at the institution.

Mathe also credits teamwork enabled by community organisations and individuals, including the Southern African Student Volunteers, the Wits Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, Professor Mary Metcalfe, the School Governing Body (then known as the Parent Teacher Association) and the Zondi community and staff for the school’s remarkable turnaround.

Bhukulani Secondary School principal Martin Sadiki in Zondi, Soweto. (Photo: Bheki Simelane)

Now principal Martin Sadiki is continuing where Mathe left off.

The new year has presented Sadiki with new challenges, most importantly to maintain the school’s top marks, and mentality of excellence among staff and learners.

Sadiki said his school was almost turned into a police station in an effort to fight the rampant crime that often also played itself out on the school grounds, but he and Mathe have managed to bring the situation under control.

The school is now protected by the Community Policing Forum, extra security guards have been employed, and an alarm system and CCTV cameras have been set up.

Sadiki said that they also made sure that the school nutrition programme was run well to ensure that learners were not hungry.

“I had to assess what we needed the most. Results. I emphasise results,” Sadiki said. However, he also admits they had an overall dip in performance during the Covid-19 period, which can be attributed to the disruptions necessitated by lockdowns.

Although they are working to overcome this, Sadiki added, they haven’t wavered from their requirement that learners need a top-achiever attitude, coupled with good manners, to join their school.

Bhukulani Secondary School obtained an 84.1% matric pass rate in 2023.

Elandre Bartlett hugs Zaarah Benjamin (right) after the release of matric results at Manenberg Secondary School in the Western Cape, 19 January 2024. (Photo: Shelley Christians)

Gangsterism and violence did not deter these diligent matrics

At Manenberg Secondary School in Cape Town, school principal Cameron Williams told Daily Maverick: “I want them to be successful.”

In 2020, at the height of Covid-19, the school had a pass rate of 30%. In 2021, the pass rate stood at 57.3%. The 2022 pass rate was 76%. This achievement was praised by the Western Cape Education Department, as the school was ranked second among the most improved schools in the province.

Although this year’s class only managed a pass rate of 65%, Williams was proud of that because gangsterism, violence and unemployment are rife in the area.

Principal of Manenberg Secondary Cameron Williams. (Photo: Shelley Christians)

Williams comes from Manenberg and has taught at the school since 1980.

Despite retiring in 2019, he was called back to become the acting principal. He has stayed on since then, but his current contract at the school will end on 31 March.

Williams admitted he is a disciplinarian and said he believes that, when discipline is established, “everything else will just fall in place”.

His leadership style is based on discipline and respect.

He views the system as a triangle – with learners at the top and parents and teachers at the base, providing support. His plan for the Class of 2024 is for a pass rate that exceeds the 2022 rate of 76%. “We must topple the class at the top.”

He said a parent meeting was planned for Saturday, 20 January, to give parents and teachers the chance to talk about expectations and responsibilities for 2024.

From 1 February, Williams has instructed the matrics to come to school half an hour before the official starting time, to allow for more teaching and learning.

This, he said, is not negotiable: “They’re going to have a long school day.”

He will even see to it that the learners receive food.

“My ultimate aim is that this school must get to 100%,” he said.

One major challenge experienced by learners across the Western Cape in 2023 was a devastating taxi strike. At its height, the Western Cape Education Department said there was an absenteeism rate of 71%.

Williams said the strike did not affect too many Manenberg Secondary School matrics because many lived within walking distance of the school.

But there were instances where teachers needed to pick up learners who were stranded – not only because of the strike, but because of gangsterism in the area.

Williams refers to gangsters as “stakeholders” in education – because, ultimately, the children of gangsters also attend the school.

“I don’t condone what they’re doing … but I also can’t tell them what they must do – that is for some other department to sort out,” said Williams.

“I just want the learners to get the necessary education and to be here for the entire school day.” DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R29.