DZANANI – The leadership of the Makhado Municipality unfolded a programme of visiting schools within its area of jurisdiction in order to encourage Grade 12 learners to study and to wish them good luck before they sit for their final examinations. The political head of the municipality, Cllr RS Nkuzana, was out implementing the programme at various schools last week.

Mayor Nkuzana visited Hluvuka at Bungeni, and Davhana Secondary School on Monday, while on Tuesday, he went to Nngweni and Vhulaudzi Secondary Schools. “What we are doing is to encourage and motivate learners and wish them good luck in their exams. We are also distributing our municipal bursary application forms to students,” he said.

At Nngweni, the mayor told the Grade 12s that they must regard the final examination as the climax of their school days. He said that it is like a bridge between the past and the future. “The examination will determine your future; it will determine whether you will become a doctor, an engineer or something similar or whether you will become a hobo, a gardener or a housewife for the rest of your life,” he said.

Nkuzana told learners that amongst them there would be a master and a slave unless they can change and start working hard. “Work like a slave today and live like a master in future. There are those who are living like kings and queens today and they will die in slavery. What I mean is that you should read your books like slaves today, be disciplined, spend your time at home, refrain from going to bashes and having sex, in order to enjoy it when you are masters,” he said.

He said that, when the results are released, some will be weeping, while hard-working students will be shouting in happiness. “To those of you who are spending sleepless nights studying, I say continue doing so, but if you’ve not yet started today, you still have time. Our future is not determined by our backgrounds. Your background has nothing to do with your future, so we are appealing to you to be disciplined and study,” he said.

Since 2003, the municipality has been awarding bursaries to 15 deserving learners from historically disadvantaged communities as a strategy of addressing the imbalances of the past in education. The bursary is available for students with interests in Information Technology, Property Valuation, Civil and Electrical Engineering. Ngweni school obtained a 94% pass rate, while Vhulaudzi had a 63% pass rate in Grade 12 in the previous academic year. Both schools promised Nkuzana that they were aiming to achieve a 100% pass rate this year.