By ASHLEY WESTAWAY
Gadra Education is delighted to announce the 2018 results of the Gadra Matric School (GMS). In 2018, GMS enrolled 173 students. Of these 101 (58%) obtained Bachelor level passes, 67 (39%) Diploma passes and 5 (3%) Higher Certificate passes. Not a single student from the Class of 2018 failed.
For the past few years, GMS has specifically focused on enabling its students obtain good quality results. It is thus very pleasing that GMS has again, for the 4th consecutive year, assisted over 100 of its students to obtain a Bachelor level pass. This strong performance in the final examinations confirms that GMS will remain the biggest feeder school for Rhodes University in 2019. Gadra Education is committed to assisting Dr Mabizela (the university’s Vice-Chancellor) in his bid to make the university more accessible to local youth, and GMS is a key institution in this regard.
On the other side of the performance spectrum the organisation is equally thrilled that none of its students failed. South African statistics tell us that one’s employment and other prospects are negligible without a matric certificate. This is the third consecutive year that GMS has maintained a 100% pass rate. As far as individual subjects are concerned, highlights were an average improvement of 13% in Physical Sciences and of 11% in Accounting. These are strategic subjects in relation to the science and commerce fields respectively.
Gadra Education would therefore like to thank and commend all those responsible for producing such stellar results: the Principal (Melanie Lancaster), the teachers, the students and their parents and other family members. The purpose of GMS is to afford young people who have already written NSC examinations the opportunity to upgrade their matric results.
The 101 Bachelor passes referred to above derive from combining GMS results with results obtained from the initial set of examinations. It therefore goes without saying that the success of GMS is contingent upon a functional local public schooling arrangement. The organisation therefore recognises that it builds on the prior efforts of all local public schools. Gadra is a community initiative; the organisation belongs to all of Grahamstown and depends on a vast array of local people and institutions for its success.
The closing date for GMS applications for 2019 is 15 January. Application forms are available from the Gadra Education offices at 1 Thompson Street.
- Ashley Westaway is the Manager, Gadra Education.
