TEAM WORK: Pupils Pamela Malanga, Kamvalethu Rengqe and Uyanda Makwayi in front of empty library shelves which will be stocked soon. Picture: TREMAINE VAN AARDT
EARLY birds famously catch the worm – and for a group of Uitenhage pupils who have virtually eliminated late-coming among schoolmates – they have also captured national recognition.
Thanks to the discipline and leadership shown by five Solomon Mahlangu High School pupils, they returned home from Parys at the weekend R10 000 richer after claiming top honours at the national Youth Action Citizens Programme.
The stop-late-coming initiative was the brainchild of Grade 10 pupils Pamela Malanga, 22, Siviwe Kaleni, 17, Kamvalethu Rengqe, 15, Uyanda Makwayi, 15, and Aqamile Mancapa, 15.
The move by Grade 10 pupils Pamela Malanga, 22, Siviwe Kaleni, 17, Kamvalethu Rengqe, 15, Uyanda Makwayi, 15, and Aqamile Mancapa, 15 to lock the school gates promptly at 8am daily and reward punctual pupils with membership to the Early Bird Club, has seen them almost completely eliminate late arrivals at school.
The initiative trumped eight other entries, with each representing the nine provinces.
The prize money will be used to stock the school library.
“The implementation of the project has made a huge difference,” school principal Mncedi Mtengwana said.
“The percentage of late-coming dropped by 31% in February and 87% the following month. The school has virtually eliminated the problem completely now.”
Mtengwana said a special group of grade 10, 11 and 12 pupils, known as the Early Bird Club – who are provided with extra classes each day at 7am – had also grown to 18 members.
“The winning pupils are leaders and have influenced their peers positively through this initiative, and will continue to do so through the new library,” she said.
School social worker Olwen Carson said the pupils had gathered information from others as to why they were late, called in parents and provided them with counselling as the issue affected their children’s studies.
Rengqe said the team felt privileged to be in a position to improve their peers’ educational experience.
“We learnt a lot through this competition as it tries to empower the youth to make an active difference in their communities, which I really think we all achieved,” Rengqe said.
“And it is really encouraging to see the change in my friends’ attitudes towards their schoolwork.
“But what was equally exciting was flying for the first time – it was an amazing experience.
“I am so happy we came back winners. We put days of preparation into this project and knew we had a lot of people we didn’t want to disappoint.”
-Tremaine van Aardt
The post Pupils’ bright-eyed idea pays dividends appeared first on HeraldLIVE.