The MEC visited Ponelopele Secondary School in Ivory Park, a Secondary School Improvement Programme site, to encourage matric pupils to work harder.
“It is important to attend extra classes during the April school holidays,” she said. “The classes are running for the fifth year and have become an important element of schooling in Gauteng. Nearly 50 percent of public high schools in the province participate in the programme.”
Creecy told matric pupils that if they attended all the extra classes they would definitely pass matric.
Principal of the school Alex Tau said, “Seven schools from Ivory Park are participating in the extra classes.We are excited about the 100 percent attendance for these classes at our school.”
Praise Ndebele, who matriculated last year and was one of Gauteng’s top pupils came to encourage the current Ponelopele matrics. Ndebele said, “Maths was my favourite subject in matric. All my hard work paid off in the end. My future is bright going forward.”
The programme is one of the Gauteng Department of Education’s key intervention strategies to turn around performance in priority schools around the province. The programme provides extra tuition by expert teachers to grade 10, 11 and 12 pupils on Saturdays and during school holidays.
