MECS: good foundation – key to success

A GOOD foundation, is the best option for any type of building in the universe, this is especially true about the education of a child.

In the foundation phase of Mokopane English Combined School (MECS) there is a team of well qualified and dedicated teachers who strive to lay the best learning foundation for children of Mokopane and surrounding areas, giving learners the best foundation on which they can build their future careers.

These are the words of Emilige Schröder, MECS deputy principal.

MECS is proud to announce that the Gr R to Gr 3 classes recently moved into their own, newly renovated and spacious premises.

MECS is an independent school affiliated with ISASA (Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa). ISASA is an organisation that coordinates the activities and, above all, the standard of schools that offer the Independent Exam Board (IEB)examinations. Many of the oldest and most established schools in South Africa are partners in ISASA.

“MECS is currently the only English medium school in Mokopane that offers the IEB course. Learners have the opportunity to start at the school from Gr R level until their final Gr 12 examinations. In the Gr 12 class of 2015, there are three learners who completed their entire school career with MECS,” Schröder told Bosveld.

During the course of 2015, MECS went through an Independent Quality Assurance Agency (IQAA) assessment. This was a thorough investigation into all aspects of the school and its activities.

The report was extremely positive and indicated a highly functional academic institution that is accredited with UMALUSI and all other necessary role players.

The IQAA report read: “The high quality of education is encompassed in a community in which the staff genuinely cares for the well-being of the pupils. Your school offers your children a meaningful education, creating a solid platform for their futures.”

MECS is extremely proud of their alumni. Since the level of testing, on the IEB system is very high, the learners leaving the school after Gr 12 do exceptionally well at the respective universities where they further their studies. Among them is the Dux Student of 2014, Nicolai van Niekerk, who was awarded as the Top Achiever of Tuks Village (out of over 600 students of all study fields and levels, he was the top achiever, with an average of more than 92%) last month.

Since the first Gr 12 learners wrote their IEB exams in 2012, there had not been a single subject failure.

All the learners who wrote Gr 12 in 2014 passed with the opportunity to study towards a degree or a diploma.

The staff at MECS believe that the new move for the foundation phase will be in the interests of not only the current learners, but also the future generations.