There was joy when the top achievers in the Soutpansberg North Circuit of the Vhembe Department of Education were given awards for their outstanding performance during the 2010 matric results. This was during an excellence awards ceremony that was held at the Makhado Multipurpose Centre last Friday.

During the event, teachers and pupils who performed well during last year´s matric exams received the awards from the circuit manager of Soutpansberg North, Dr Ntavhanyani Phaswana. The Mopani Intermediate School was crowned as the overall best school in the circuit with a 100% pass rate, outclassing Eric Louw, the best school in the circuit with a 100% in 2009. Eric Louw scooped second position with a 98.5% pass rate this year.

Mudimeli Secondary School was awarded as the school with the biggest improvement, improving from 43% in 2009 to a 63% pass rate in 2010.

According to Phaswana, the main objective of the awards was to motivate, encourage and recognize the best schools, teachers and pupils who performed very well during the 2010 matric results. "We also wanted to fuel the habit of doing good things. We wanted to encourage those who did not perform well to work very hard this year, so that they can produce good results," he said.

The circuit got a 74.8% pass rate during the 2010 matric results.

The ceremony was attended by, amongst others, the mayor of Makhado Municipality, Cllr Mavhungu Luruli, the senior manager of education in Vhembe, Dr Nthambeleni Rambiyana, Dr Nkhelebeni Phaswana of Kalahari Book Publishers and circuit managers from various circuits across the district.