SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF, ONCE AGAIN, BOASTS A 100% MATRIC PASS RATE
Despite the lack of resources and various challenges on a daily basis, KwaThintwa School For The Deaf continues its academic excellence with a 100% pass rate in the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 matric exams.
The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Finance, Ms Belinda Scott joined the school in celebrating and recognising the achievements of the Matric Class of 2014.
“I am humbled to be in this centre of Excellency, in a ceremony of honouring all year long academic achievement. It is an honour to stand here to say well done. This school is very close to my heart. The matric exams that are written by this school are not special exams for the deaf, but it is the same curriculum as in the main stream schools, yet this school performs miracles despite the challenges of having children with disabilities, children that can’t hear. This school records’ has proven that these children are just as intelligent, creative, and beautiful as the other children in this province. This school is an example of a new South Africa” said MEC Scott.
With programs serving learners from preschool ages through to grade 12, this semi-rural school is a residential school for learners who are deaf with a comprehensive academic, health, and socialization programme including dormitory living equipped for students who are Deaf.
The overjoyed school principal Dr Mavis Naidoo said that this achievement is a team work effort. “Today first on my agenda I would like to thank all the teachers from grade zero right up to grade 12. But we alone could not achieve this without the support of the nurse, house-mothers, grounds-man, the security, and the cleaners in short all support staff at this school. We all work together to take the child from preschool to a literate learner existing at grade 12. I salute all the staff, parents and learners! Today is our celebration because we have made a difference in the lives of the children that we worked with”.
“We don’t only boast a 100% pass rate but we also boast good quality passes. When teaching a Deaf child one encounters many challenges, the language backlog, Sign Language being an oral language, the lack of adequately qualified Sign Language teachers, are but a few examples. Accessing the mainstream curriculum with these challenges becomes a mammoth task and must be carefully considered. At our school we follow, a bilingual/ bicultural approach which assists in academic achievement. It is really not easy to getting a child from grade zero to grade 12 and produce the quality of the results that we are producing!!” said Naidoo.
Speaking on behalf of the parents, Mrs Phikisile Mthembu was almost in tears when she was revealing how her child Sakhile Mthembu one of the 2014 matriculants, who got sick when he was very young, ending up being deaf and the pain of having to leave him at school at that young age.
“The school was very accommodating to my child, today he is a grown up and a responsible man, he watches TV with me and explain to me what is going on as he can read and write very well. I run out of words to thank the school. Even though I still owe a lot of school fees my child was never left out because of my shortfall. May our Lord bless the school with more to help those who are less fortunate” said Mthembu.
Issued by the Office of the KZN MEC for Finance.
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