The past few years have been the most difficult years for Nnditsheni Secondary School in Tshithuthuni village in Nzhelele. The school's enrolment dropped and results have been very poor. In 2020 they reached a low with a matric pass rate of only 30%. Rumours were going around that the department planned on closing the school because of its bad performance.
Things were looking bad for Nnditsheni Secondary, but in spite all this, the school's management refused to give up the fight, and today, the future of the school looks a lot brighter.
During Nzhelele East Circuit's Excellence Awards, held at the El-Shaddai Church in Ha-Rabali, Nzhelele on 23 February this year, Nnditsheni Secondary won the award for the Most Improved School. This after the quintile 1 school managed to obtain a pass rate of 65.2% last year – a noticeable improvement from the 50% they received in 2021.
When the principal, Pastor Livhuwani Gladys Netshiongolwe eventually presented the award to the SGB, SANCO, the royal council and other stakeholders last Friday (10 March), she said the award was the result of unity, hard work and teamwork. "It is by the grace of God and through the support we receive from the teachers, SGB, parents, SANCO, royal council and the community that we were able to improve our results. This award serves as motivation to keep working hard, even though we are short-staffed." She said the school currently had only five teachers, which was one of their biggest challenges.
This year, Netshiongolwe said, the school was aiming for a pass rate of at least 80%. "We are going to work even harder to make sure that we set the bar high. We believe that God will help us achieve this," she added.
The chairperson of the SGB, Mr Thina Malise, said the SGB was very happy with the improvement the school was making. "We are helping the school where we can with the recruitment of new learners. We want to make Nnditsheni great again," he said.