TOP PERFORMING IEB SCHOOLS

IEB schools whose learners achieved within the top 5% in 6 or more subjects and a level 7 distinction in life orientation:

1 Crawford College (La lucia, LoneHill, North Coast) – 7 top-performing learners

2 Helpmekaar College – 6 top performers

3 Reddam House College (Bedfordview, Constantia, Somerset Lakes) – 4 top performers

4 RedHill School – 3 top performers

5 St Mary’s DSG: Kloof – 3 top performers

6 St Mary’s School for Girls – 3 top performers

7 Holy Rosary School – 3 top performers

8 Trinityhouse High School: Randpark Ridge – 2 top performers

9 Hilton College – two top performers

10 St Stithians Girls’ College – 2 top performers

MARYANNE ISAAC

DESPITE a shaky academic year and the woes that accompanied the Covid19 pandemic, the 2020 National Senior Certificate (NSC) IEB pass rate remained high, with pupils from many schools across the country producing outstanding achievements

Anne Oberholzer, the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) chief executive, said the hard lockdown impacted IEB schools in several ways.

“The initiative of schools and teachers to continue with teaching and learning during this time is a testimony to their professionalism and the commitment of learners, as well as the support of parents,” said Oberholzer.

Some schools were able to make a smooth transition to online teaching and learning as they had the resources available and had already been using them, she said.

Others were not able to adopt online teaching due to the scarcity of resources. Teachers in these situations reverted to traditional distanceeducation strategies.

“In some cases, they prepared weekly learning programmes for learners using textbook references and notes, together with prepared exercises and tasks. These were emailed to learners, or delivered to or collected by learners and family members from the school. The completed tasks were returned to the school for marking and further intervention if required,” Oberholzer said.

According to the IEB, candidates who passed achieved an eligible pass required to study at a tertiary institute at one of three levels: ◆ 88.42% (compared to 89.51% in 2019) of the cohort achieved entry to degree study. ◆ 8.14% (compared to 7.91% in 2019) qualified for entry to diploma study. ◆ 1.51% (compared to 1.4% in 2019) achieved entry for study at a higher certificate level.