‘Resilient’ matrics admit load shedding was major hurdle during exams

The pupils spoke to Jacaranda FM News on Thursday at a breakfast event hosted by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga for the country’s 34 top achievers.

Top student Kelly Prowse (18), who attended Rustenburg High school in the Western Cape, said her parents were a great help during her studies, especially when load shedding hit. 

“I was fortunate to have lots of candles and lights and try to make work at home. I was fortunate that my parents helped me ensure that my studies stay strong despite the load shedding.” 

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Priyasha Naidoo from Westville Girls High School in KwaZulu-Natal says she had to abide by a strict schedule to work around the blackouts.

Naidoo took IT as one of her subjects in matric, which required her to be constantly connected to a source of power. 

“You need to plan; you need to have a schedule. You need to know exactly when your load shedding times are because sometimes you can be caught by surprise. So, it’s always about planning.” 

Motshekga hailed the class of 2022 as a “resilient’ group. 

“This is a group that went through CAPS, the new curriculum assessment statement. It’s a group where the majority have not had grade R, but this group was the first cohort when we introduced grade R in schools. It’s a group that demonstrated high levels of resilience because you really were in the storm of Covid.” 

Motshekga will announce the matric results at an event in Randburg on Thursday night.