‘We are united for one purpose and that is to see our learners achieve’

In a booming voice and almost doubling over, Stanley Mpangana whips his 981 pupils into a frenzy, chanting  “Yevula, Magigwana! Yevula!”

In Shangaan it means “Skin them, Magigwana! Skin them.”

Mpangana, the principal of Magigwana Secondary in the impoverished village of Athol in Thulamahashe, Mpumalanga, is in his element, trying to motivate his pupils to produce top results again this year.

They clap loudly, repeating the refrain.

The teachers watch in awe and admiration as their headmaster encourages pupils to “burn the midnight oil” by studying throughout the year.

For the pupils, almost half of them either orphans or from child-headed households, Magigwana Secondary is a beacon of hope and Mpangana and his band of dedicated and committed teachers are their saviours.

The school produced the highest number of bachelor passes — the minimum requirement for admission to university — in Mpumalanga in last year’s matric exams: 276.

A total of 406 matrics wrote the exams and 390 candidates passed.

The overall bachelor pass percentage in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the Northern Cape has been consistently lower than the national average for the past eight years.

Mpumalanga achieved a bachelor pass percentage of 31.5% in 2021, the Northern Cape attained 30.3% and Limpopo 26.7%.

Mpumalanga’s bachelor pass percentage needs to improve, but Magigwana Secondary has been a shining star among other schools, including former Model C schools that boast top-notch facilities.

Impressed with the school’s achievement, the Mpumalanga education department invited Mpangana to a meeting on Monday to share his school’s best practices with principals of underperforming schools.

He told them that he led by example, firstly by arriving at school at 5.45am.

He lives about 21km from the school and has to travel on a dirt road that is peppered with potholes.

 “Whenever there are weekend classes, I make sure I am available,” the 62-year-old continued.

I hardly sit in my office. I move around to make sure classes are attended and there’s a teacher 

—  Magigwana Secondary principal Stanley Mpangana

“I hardly sit in my office. I move around to make sure classes are attended and there’s a teacher.

“At the end of the term we give awards to deserving learners in all grades. Gifted learners are given a platform to motivate their peers.”

He told the virtual meeting: “I give teachers praise when it is due and I inspire them on a daily basis. When teachers are happy, their performance is outstanding.”

A strong disciplinarian, he told his colleagues that pupil discipline is key and that teachers set classroom rules for their pupils.

One of the many initiatives bearing fruit at Magigwana Secondary is getting matrics to deliver an essay, especially in history, business studies or economics, to the school assembly before the start of the trial exams.

“By doing so, teachers are able to see where learners are having challenges and are able to assist them.”

It does not take a rocket scientist to understand why his school produced the highest number of bachelor passes in Mpumalanga. There are morning classes from 6 to 7 before the start of the school day and evening classes from 6 to 9.30, as well as Saturday classes.

Teachers are encouraged to complete the syllabus by June “so that they can have enough time for revision”.

However, even though his school achieved the highest number of bachelor passes, Mpangana is not complacent.

“We are happy with the fact that we are No 1 in the province in terms of bachelor passes, but I would like to see all learners getting a bachelor pass. If I can get that, I will sleep like a child.”

Mpangana said the school is “one big happy family”, adding: “When people are happy and there are no divisions and squabbles, people perform. We provide a very conducive environment.”

The teachers, who are genuinely passionate about uplifting the community, are not paid to teach during the morning, evening or weekend classes but do it “purely out of love”.

“We are united for one purpose and that is to see our learners achieve.”

A total of 412 matrics have been enrolled this year and the target for bachelor passes is 300.

Because schools had to comply with the 1m social distancing requirement in classrooms in terms of Covid protocols, the school had to offer platoon classes for grade 8-11 pupils last year.

This meant some pupils had to be taught in the mornings while others were taught from 12.30pm until 5pm.

Caiven Mathebula, 17, and Siyabonga Sithole, 18, the school’s star performers in matric, sang the praises of the teachers, saying they “went beyond the call of duty”.

Mathebula said the teachers “pushed us to work hard” and Sithole, who contracted Covid  a day before the first paper was scheduled to be written, said both of them taught maths, physical science and life sciences to fellow pupils during the evenings.

Despite contracting Covid, he bagged a distinction in maths.

“The teachers put in a lot of effort to make sure we have a bright future,” said Sithole.

Sipho Masinga, chair of the school’s governing body, said the staff had “fulfilled the dreams of the community” by getting pupils to produce top results. “Sometimes we give awards to teachers and we have a braai with them to express our appreciation.”

Built in 1985, the school has no staffroom and teachers sit crammed like sardines in two dingy rooms. There are also no offices for the five heads of department.

Grade 8 pupils attend lessons in an unplastered church hall. But teachers take this in their stride.

Mpangana waxes lyrical about one of his teachers, former Ghanaian Mohammed Seidu, who is now a naturalised South African citizen.

Seidu was named the top matric maths teacher in Mpumalanga for 2021.

His pupils’ results speak volumes — 151 wrote maths and 149 passed, including two with distinctions.

Most importantly, 126 of the 149 pupils who passed achieved 50% or more in the subject, which signifies a quality pass as pupils are allowed to pass with just 30%.

An unassuming Seidu said matter-of-factly that “it’s easy to pass maths if you know your children”.

We check how far teachers have progressed with the syllabus, and if they are behind we assist them to work a little bit harder

—  Freddy Sithole High School principal Benjamin Shabangu

“They need to know what you want from them and the key point is discipline. If you don’t do my work, I will discipline you by detaining you.”

Errant pupils remain in school from the time it closes at 3.30pm until 6pm and they are monitored by Seidu.

“I make sure they learn the concept they didn’t know and I teach them until they get it right.”

His colleague Sipho Ubisi, a physical sciences teacher who has also earned the title of top teacher in the province, also had glowing results in matric last year.

A total of 140 wrote physical science and 139 passed, including 101 who achieved a percentage pass of 50% and more in the subject. Six pupils bagged distinctions.

Living close to the school has been a bonus for Ubisi, who could offer extra classes to his charges.

“I give them a lot of tests so that they can show me where they are lacking. We take it topic by topic.”

Fickson Nxumalo, the business studies teacher at Magigwana Secondary, was beaming from ear to ear after 193 out of his 195 pupils passed, including 22 with distinctions.

“I give them tasks to do at home and if they encounter any problems we have a WhatsApp group for every class so we are able to interact.”

But Nxumalo, who has been teaching matric classes since 2016, has set boundaries — pupils can only contact him via WhatsApp until 9pm, after which “I am no longer taking questions”.

At the nearby Freddy Sithole High School in Bushbuckridge, the principal, Benjamin Shabangu, was also in a celebratory mood after all 83 matric pupils passed, including 31 with a bachelor pass.

Remarkably, the school achieved a 100% pass in six subjects — Xitsonga home language, English first additional language, life orientation, agricultural sciences, history and physical science.

The school’s management team, including Shabangu, meets every fortnight to check on the work that teachers have done over the previous 10 days.

“We check how far teachers have progressed with the syllabus, and if they are behind we assist them to work a little bit harder.”

An interesting strategy employed by Freddy Sithole High is securing the services of top-performing teachers from other schools, especially those teaching maths, physical science, history and tourism, to provide extra tuition to pupils.

“We don’t rely on our teachers only. We go to schools where the teachers are better than ours and ask them to help us,” said Shabangu.

These teachers are often those who are declared the best teacher in a subject at merit award functions.

Shabangu said the teachers from other schools are paid only their travelling expenses.

Outsourcing teacher is “a must” for maths, “even if we have a strong teacher”.

Mantombazane Hlatshwayo, 17, a matric pupil at Freddy Sithole High, said her teachers are “more committed than the word commitment” because they teach seven days a week.

She is determined to get seven distinctions this year after getting distinctions in English, Xitsonga and life sciences in grade 11 last year.

Masana Secondary School in the hamlet of Dwarsloop in Mpumalanga has also produced  inspiring results.

Davis Masinga, headmaster of the school, credited its performance to the quality of teaching provided by his 72 teachers.

His teachers are at school over weekends and “learners make it their culture to say: ‘I better shelve church matters and other things and focus on school.’”

“Some classes are seriously overcrowded but I have been saying that a class will never teach a learner. It needs a teacher to teach and overcrowding cannot be used as an excuse.”

Masinga’s life sciences teacher, Christina Matsane, attributed the pupils’ performance to the school management team.

All 57 pupils who wrote life sciences passed, including 48 who achieved 50% or more in the subject.

Sixteen pupils achieved distinctions.

Matsane provides more individual attention to weaker pupils and encourages them to look at so-called easy-to-score questions.

Masana Secondary’s business studies teacher, Mahlogonolo Mashile, said his strategy of getting pupils in the social sciences stream to do consumer studies instead of business studies helped the school to get a 100% pass in the subject.

Thirty-one of the 52 pupils who wrote business studies achieved a pass percentage of 50% or more.

“I am looking forward to the day when learners don’t pass with 30% but with distinctions,” he said.

Limpopo had the worst bachelor pass percentage in SA last year, but there are pockets of excellence in that province.

We report pupils who misbehave to the headman and this has resulted in a decline in the incidences of bullying 

—  Tshivhase Secondary second deputy principal Nthambeleni Mashotha 

Tshivhase Secondary, a no-fee school originally known as MacDonald Combined School, put other schools, including former Model C schools, to shame after producing the most bachelor passes in the province.

A total of 468 wrote matric and 248 achieved a bachelor pass. The school has a record number of 575 matrics this year. Deputy principal Stanley Mbedzi said parents want to bring their children to the school because of the excellent quality of education it provides.

“Our teachers are committed and go the extra mile and our learners put their heart and soul into their studies,” he said.

The second deputy principal, Nthambeleni Mashotha, said the results of pupils in all grades are sent to the headman of Vhufuli village, Anderson Mphigalale, after every term.

“We take the results to the headman and indicate the passes and failures and reasons for the failures. We also report pupils who misbehave to the headman and this has resulted in a decline in the incidences of bullying.”

Mphigalale said he and his 11 councillors scrutinise the results. 

“We are very impressed with the school’s results and we will be looking at the matric results on February 20. Our role is having a very positive impact on the results and on discipline at the school,” he said.

Another school that has produced top results is Thengwe High in Mutale, Limpopo, where 215 of the 428 pupils who passed achieved a bachelor pass.

The school’s accolades include being placed second in the province for having the most number of pupils passing maths, life sciences and maths and physical sciences combined.

Headmistress Mashudu Mamidze attributed her school’s impressive results to her hard-working and committed teachers.

Her life sciences teacher, Tshifhiwa Netshitandani, was confident that this year’s results would be even better than last year’s.

Limpopo education department spokesperson Tidimalo Chuene said the department was “content” with the increase in the number of bachelor passes, “especially the fact that it surpassed the target set”.

“What is of great satisfaction has been the quality passes the province achieved in the gateway subjects, especially maths, science and technology subjects.”