THENGWE - Best Tshivenda subject teacher from Thengwe Secondary has made his presence felt, when one of his learners took the top position in the Tshivenda Olympiad 2002.

Mr Thifhelimbilu Nekhunguni (38), who has been producing good results in Tshivenda for the past ten years, had a reason to celebrate as his pupil Gumani Lucretia Takalani (17) took position one in the Olympiad 2002. She won R3 000 cash, a certificate, a gold medal, a folder, a T-shirt and a cap in the competition, which was sponsored by the Pan South African Language Board, the Department of Arts and Culture and the Foundation for Education Science and Technology during a function held in Pretoria on October 11.

Takalani scored 118 marks and obtained 84,3% in Tshivenda. She wrote the test on August 14, 2002. Although the competition was tough, Takalani said the motivation from her teacher, helped her to do well during the competition. She was among 17 children from Thengwe who participated in the competition.

"My teacher told me, when you get into competition you must know that you have 100% marks. He told me, "you will start deducting the marks during the exam. So I had that believe and I was not surprised when I scored the highest marks in the competition," said Takalani.

She said she won because her teacher taught her to believe in herself. Her teacher encouraged her from the start by telling her she had the potential to win. Takalani, who is busy with her grade twelve final exams, said she was sure that she is going to produce good results this year and will then proceed to study chemical engineering at Cape Town University.