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Some of the happy pupils at Edison Nesengani who attained university exemption in the Grade 12 examinations.

Results from unrest areas surprise

Date: 16 January 2017 By: Elmon Tshikhudo

The embattled Vuwani area, which was a scene of protracted protests and shut-downs last year, produced a shocker when some of the schools achieved better results in the Grade 12 examinations than the schools that were not affected during the protests.

The residents were involved in violent protests for almost a year against their forced inclusion into a new municipal entity that included them in the area of Malamulele. During the total shut-down, more than 30 schools were burnt down in the area. More than 50 000 learners in the area were negatively affected as they went nearly half of the year without schooling.

More than 2 000 of them were Grade 12 learners who missed out on school time. Catch-up camps were organized for them at different points in the province.

One of the schools that excelled is Edison Nesengani at Tshino, which achieved a 100% pass rate. To put the cherry on top of the cake, Vhuronga 1 circuit, also in Vuwani, became the best circuit in the Vhembe district.

One of  Edison Nesengani Secondary's top learners, Phumudzo Ramanyimi (17) of Tshino Madangani, who attained distinctions in all his subjects, could not hide his excitement. "The odds were against us from all quarters, but that did not distract us from a mission we had to accomplish. The shutdown was like a blessing in disguise for us; we were determined to make it at the end of the year," he said.

Ramanyimi said that, even without supervision, the shutdown had given him plenty of time to study and prepare for the end-of-the-year examinations. "I planned my studies and had to stick to that programme for the duration of the protests. Mine started at 18:00 and ended at 12 midnight and during the day I would alternate between my studies and resting." He also attended a catch-up camp at Mass Tech in Polokwane.

He said his dream was to study medicine and he would soon register at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Mr Martin Masia of Vyeboom, whose daughter Rotenda Masia received university exemption, could not hide his happiness. "We expected the worst, as our children lost most of the year as a result of the protests, but we are just happy that things turned this way; we are very happy," he said.

 
 
 

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Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

 
 

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