BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – A learner from Oak Hills Academy in Nhlangano outsmarted her peers by getting nine As in her International Examinations Board (IEB) curriculum.
Bandiswa Mabila excelled in Grade 11 and her achievements were celebrated last week, in an event that featured the representative of Shiselweni Regional Education Officer (REO) Dr Mlondi Mkhonta. Mzwakhe ‘Tjovitjo’ Khumalo was the programme director of the event.
Mabila excelled among all the learners who participated in the IEB curriculum in the whole country. In Oak Hills Academy, Mabila was not the only learner that was celebrated. She excelled together with three other pupils. They included Ntsandvoyenkhosi Ndlangamandla, Mawande Mabila, and Sebentile Mthembu. Ndlangamandla is the only male among the pupils who excelled at Oak Hills Academy.
During the event, Dr Mkhonta appreciated the teachers, learners, and teachers for supporting the teaching and learning process. He shared with the learners on how they were supposed to work towards success, now that they had reached these stages of their lives. Dr Mkhonta said objective-based kind of education was being phased out and competence-based education was the one that was being adopted.
He hailed the IEB curriculum as the one that had emphasis on competence-based education. He encouraged the pupils to look forward to a great future and never forget where they came from. Speaking on behalf of the pupils, Mthembu thanked parents and teachers for ensuring that their learning process was smooth, even though there were challenges here and there.
Mthembu said without the support of these two parties, it would be much difficult to overcome the challenges they faced during their learning process. She also expressed words of gratitude to her fellow learners for working together and support one another during their journey as learner. Mthembu said this was happening in the fifth year of her mother’s demise. She believed her mother was guiding her wherever she was. She also thanked her father for always supporting her.
Oak Hills Academy is the only school that provides the IEB curriculum in the Shiselweni region. Other schools that provide the same curriculum include Kobe Ramokgadi Learning Academy and Mbalenhle Christian Academy. During the event, it also transpired that the learners from Oak Hills Academy were among the top five performers in the SADC region.
