Cape Town – There were many times in her life that Waseema Moses needed things but had to go without.
This pushed her to complete her matric with a baby on her arm, as there was no way her 1-year-old son, Ayaan, would live in constant need and want, she said.
Moses, 18, was overjoyed yesterday to find out she obtained a bachelor’s pass from Silverstream Secondary School in Manenberg - the oldest high school in the area.
“I am the first person in my family to matriculate. They are so proud, and I am so proud of myself. It was not easy, but I never thought of giving up. My son Ayaan was my motivation,” she said.
The school has started phasing out pupils who will be accommodated at a new school of skills that will be built at the old GF Jooste Hospital site.
It is expected to be completed next year.
Moses’s class was the third last cohort to matriculate, as the school only has two grades left - grades 11 and 12.
Situated along a corridor the City has identified for urban renewal as
part of its mayoral urban regeneration programme, the school is surrounded by at least five different gang turfs.
Since 2015 it has struggled with intake, having received only 30 pupil applications that year.
The Western Cape Education Department in 2016 instructed the school to stop further enrolments.
Principal Leslie Pieters yesterday said the school obtained a 60% pass rate, down from 69% the previous year, but with better quality results.
His 2019 matric class had only 22 pupils, and managed a 30% Bachelor’s pass.
They obtained one distinction, he said.
“With the phasing out, pupils have selected to go to other schools. We had one pupil drop out this year.
“The quality of the passes we achieved this year was better than in 2018,” Pieters said.
Teachers were at the school yesterday, encouraging pupils who failed subjects to rewrite, as their results will impact on admission to study.
They said the pupils could even sit in on classes during the academic year as it would help them.
Moses said she had the support
of all her teachers when she fell pregnant, as well as her child’s father, which played a role in her passing matric.
“Every night when Ayaan slept I studied, it worked out to a couple of hours a week. When I was growing up there were a lot of things we needed but couldn’t have, even opportunities. I did this for my child, so he can have a better life,” Moses said.
She applied to study business administration at UCT, but her application was unsuccessful, she said, adding that she would try again and consider other options.