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8 OVCS CLAIM TOP SPOT

09/02/2021 01:12:00 BY SABELO MAJOLA

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MBABANE – A challenge is a chance for one to do their best.

The saying rang true for eight orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs) who, despite losing their parents or the latter’s inability to pay school fees for their minors, they rose above the difficulties and flourished.

This is in respect of Form V results which were released by the Ministry of Education and Training yesterday.

Almost all the interviewed pupils shared that the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic early last year, which resulted in schools being suspended for multiple months, challenged them to thrive under the circumstances.

Consistent

Jasmine Uwimana (18) from U-Tech, in the Lubombo Region attained aggregate seven. She shared that she had been an ace pupil since the first grade and has been consistent in attaining good results. Jasmine submitted that her unemployed mother had been her motivator and pillar of strength and she always wanted to make her proud.

She revealed that she was among the top performing pupils in the Junior Certificate (JC) results in 2018 as she attained aggregate 92 and she was the 23rd best performer nationally.

“I was the head girl of the school and that inspired me to do even better in my studies so that other learners could look up to me. Studying hard, determination and prayer did the trick for me and I am grateful for the support from teachers at school and the support from my family back at home, they all played a major role in my achievement,” she said.

Jasmine said she wished to pursue a career in science, specifically as a surgeon and because the course was not offered in the country, she would try and get a scholarship to study abroad.

Wonder Mathabela from St Mark’s, who attained aggregate eight said he was inspired by his father who turned 103 this year and he wanted to give him something more to celebrate about besides the blessing of a prolonged life.

The aspiring Actuarial Science said his dream was to enrol at the University of Cape Town to purse his career. He also shared that COVID-19 helped him in the sense that being at home challenged him to set goals and work on achieving them, one of them being in the list of top performers which he attained.

“Socialising with those who thrived the previous year and those who were excelling worked wonders for me. I would request them to take me through their journey and how they achieved academically and I adopted all that they shared with me. I also befriended pupils who were good in the subjects that I was not good at and milked a lot of knowledge from them. Also helping other pupils in the subjects that I was performing good at helped me, as it was a reminder of what I had learnt,” he said.

Wonder Mathabela from St Mark’s, who attained aggregate eight, said he was a spiritual person and he prayed before and after studying. He said the inability for his parents to pay for his fees challenged him to thrive and achieve a lot as he wished to one day help them financially and otherwise.