KEETMANSHOOP: Grade 12 learners at the Suiderlig High School in Keetmanshoop will have to work even harder from next year onwards for a chance to be allowed to attend the school’s 2013 matric farewell.

The school took a decision last year that Grade 12 learners would have to attain at least 20 points in the August examination results for admittance to the farewell function.Suiderlig principal Deon Williams said at a meeting held at the school with parents on Tuesday that despite the critique faced by the school in 2011 for the decision, the move did pay off as more learners passed Grade 12 than in previous years.

The school has now raised the bar for its matric learners, with a decision taken on Tuesday that the target of 20 points be increased to 25 next year.The school is hoping that this will motivate the learners to pass Grade 12 and get admittance to tertiary institutions, instead of parents having to waste their money on expensive clothes for a farewell party and at the end of the day their children fail.
Williams said about 85 per cent of the Grade 12 students passed their mid-year examinations this year, and this pass rate is attributed to the idea of banning those who fail from the farewell.Last year, complaints were received by the school from individuals who felt that the decision was unfair as learners should be allowed to attend even if they fail as it is a “once-off” opportunity.

The school however stood its ground, saying the decision is in the learners’ best interests.
“It is really helping our students to take their studies seriously because everyone wants to go to the farewell party and they study hard to earn that. I am sure this idea will be emulated by other schools,” the principal stated.

Also during Tuesday’s meeting, it was announced that the school fees for Grade 11 and 12 learners will be increased as from next year.

From 2013, school fees for the learners in these grades at Suiderlig will be N.dollars 300 per year, whereas previously they paid N.dollars 295 per year. They will thus pay N.dollars 100 per term.

No objections were received from the parents who were present as Williams explained that the school’s budget is tight. He said the school was in a “dangerous” situation this year as the tight budget meant there was no money available for emergencies.

The principal said the decisions taken at the meeting will however only be implemented after the education inspector and other parents have been informed and no objections are received.

Those present were however of the opinion that parents who did not attend the meeting will just have to accept the decisions because it is the duty of every person with a child attending the school to be present at such meetings.

More than 70 parents attended the annual meeting which discussed issues such as learners’ examination results, discipline, and efforts to encourage children to study subjects such as mathematics and science.