Durban Maths and Science Awards Ceremony celebrates top matric pupils from the class of 2022 who soared despite challenges
Durban – The Engen Maths and Science Schools (EMSS) matric class of 2022 achieved flying colours despite the Covid-19 pandemic that hit in their grade 10 year and hundreds of hours of load shedding.
Engen held an awards ceremony on February 11 2023 at Fairvale High School to honour Grade 12 pupils and named the top Engen Maths and Science School (EMSS) achievers in Durban.
Extra classes, from Grade 10-12, are held at Fairvale High School, Ganges High School, Hillview High School and Umlazi Commercial High School centres throughout the year.
Engen said Elethu Gcabashe, a former pupil of Zwelibanzi High School in uMlazi, achieved eight distinctions with 93% for Mathematics and 95% for Science.
Elethu dreams of becoming a chartered accountant and has secured a place at the University of Cape Town to study Business Science Accounting and Finance.
“I am strongly driven by hope for a better tomorrow,” said Elethu.
Her advice for the matric class of 2023 is for pupils to prepare themselves mentally and physically.
“Doing matric in this day and age is a war against all the temptations like alcohol, drugs and partying that teens are exposed to in our society,” said Elethu.
Elethu said the extra lessons she received from Grade 10-12 gave her insights on how questions are asked in the exam.
“I was also exposed to different teachers at the EMSS and we revised a lot of past papers which helped me prepare for the exams,” she added.
Nicarla Victor from Austerville, who attended Grosvenor Girls’ High School on the Bluff, received seven distinctions in matric last year.
Nicarla dreams of becoming a cardiologist and plans to study Medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal this year, after scoring 86% for English, 88% for Mathematics and 93% for Science.
Another matric pupil from uMlazi, Simangaliso Zondi, who attended Umbilo Secondary School as well as the Fairvale EMSS Centre, received seven distinctions in matric. Simangaliso achieved an impressive 88% for Mathematics, 83% for Science and plans to study mechanical engineering.
Wentworth resident, Charlise Quarrie, who attended Umbilo Secondary School, achieved six distinctions in matric which has earned her a place in the faculty of medicine at the University of Pretoria this year.
Charlise received 86% for English, 86% for Science, 87% for Mathematics and she plans to follow her dream of becoming a doctor.
Temiloluwa Jaiyeola from Montclair, who attended Forest High School, received seven distinctions including, 87% for English, 86% for Mathematics and 84% for Science.
Temiloluwa will be studying medicine at the University of Witwatersrand this year.
Engen’s manager of Transformation and Stakeholder Engagement, James Nyawera, said Engen is proud of all EMSS pupils who completed matric in 2022, often despite extremely trying circumstances.
“While Engen is extremely proud of all the 2022 matriculants, I must make special mention of, and commend the incredible results attained by some of our top achievers from our Durban EMSS Centres,” said Nyawera.
Nyawera said the programme has worked tirelessly to help transform young underprivileged people’s lives, with a focus of creating a diverse and vibrant workforce.
He said the EMSS programme focuses specifically on providing extra tuition in “gateway” subjects such as mathematics and science; which are considered critical in addressing the country’s technical and engineering skills shortage in centres across the country.