The city was abuzz last week celebrating the outstanding performances of the matric class of 2023 and Merrifield College deputy principal Bridget Fielding said this was due to the work of the unsung heroes — the primary school teachers who laid a solid foundation from which high school teachers could build.
Fielding said an outstanding matric class started in the primary schools, which set a good foundation in reading and arithmetic.
This year, Merrifield College’s top pupil Noah Ciganek finished off his school career with a 91% average, in the top 1% in life orientation, acceptance to all the medical schools in the country and a spot on the IEB top achievers list alongside only three other Eastern Cape pupils.
Ciganek, who always loved science, knew he wanted to use his interests to help people and so had been working towards gaining acceptance into medicine since grade 8.
Fielding said the school considered his achievements a testament to the teaching standard at Merrifield.
Nathan Sparg followed closely behind Ciganek with an average of 90% and is among the top 1% for maths having achieved a minimum of 99%.
Sparg said his love for maths and science meant that studying never felt like a chore. He hopes to study towards a BSc in computer science.
Matthew Malan made history at the school, being the first pupil to achieve 10 distinctions with an overall average of 89% in maths, science and music further studies.
Malan enjoys these subjects so much that he is gravitating towards a degree where he will be able to pursue these subjects everyday and he hopes to be studying computer engineering at the University of Pretoria.
Akiera Govender earned a full house of seven distinctions with an average of 86% and hopes to study medicine at Wits University because she believes the career will challenge her and satisfy her professional aspiration to continue learning and growing.
Merrifield College secured a 100% pass rate with 99% bachelor’s degree pass, including above average performances in subjects like visual arts and Xhosa. Newly retired Xhosa teacher, Maureen Giba’s class all earned distinctions with a class average of 89% with Mamela Majiza placing in the top 1% for Xhosa.
This year, the Eastern Cape achieved the provinces highest ever pass rate since the start of the democratic era at 81.4% which is a steady increase over the last two years and nationally the IEB schools achieved a 98.46% pass rate.
IEB CEO Confidence Dikgole welcomed the results, however she pointed out that schools must prioritise facing the escalating mental health issues occurring at schools across the country as pupils face increasing pressure to perform in a rapidly changing world.
