3D REFLECTIONS OF LIFE

There is nothing you can really do if you don't have a Matric certificate. You can have all the knowledge and skills in the world, but if you don't have your Matric certificate, doors will slam in your face. The Matric certificate is the golden ticket to create opportunities for you.   You will still search for a job, but it may be easier to secure a job if you can show a Matric certificate. You may want to find a better job, but the prospective employer wants that grade 12 certificate. Only then will he or she allow you to be considered as a potential employee. Then only will your skills be recognized, no matter what people may tell you to the contrary.   If you find this hard to believe, ask any one of the 141 adult learners who sat for their Business Economics examination today at just one of the Examination centres I visited today. According to the chief invigilator, Mr Charles, 100 of the candidates did not turn up. The Steenberg High centre manager, Mr Williams told me ...

Learners pledging their commitment to uphold the anti-bully code   Term 2 of this year has started just two days ago. And so has the shooting between two rival gangs in the Lavender Hill area. This morning was no different. In the Lavender Hill township, learning, looking for employment and dodging bullets are par for the course.   At about eight o clock this morning, while the learners were walking to school, gunshots were fired from one block of flats to another block of flats further north. Only an open field of about 500m separates these blocks of flats. This very field is the one that the learners of the primary schools of Levana and Hillwood and Lavender Hill High school use to get to school on time. Between the three schools the learner pedestrian traffic is in the region of 3 600 learners. When the children leave their homes in the morning, they become moving targets, already at risk less than 500m from home or school.     When I arrived at Hillwood Primary ...

Ernest looking happy and relaxed after the event and he had no clue what had transpired earlier. Our country still has to travel a long road in terms of accommodating our people who have disabilities. I became aware of this yesterday when a group of us - a few of the school principals and I - attended Jonathan Jansen and Molly Blank's launch of their book, How to fix South African Schools, at the Book Lounge in Roeland Street, Cape Town. The place was packed to capacity, even the basement was overflowing with folk who wanted to hear the pair speak.   I spotted two of my colleagues, Bevil Velensky, the head of Kommetjie, and Nelson Mafrika, the head of Masiphumelele High school right at the back of the bookstore. They indicated that there was a vacant spot close to them and waved at me, urging me to join them. Now, being able-bodied, I wormed my way through the crowd, apologizing profusely and made sure that my arms and handbag did not become missiles in the process. Another guest...

Grant showing off the sushi plate with Marwaan in the background. Imagine my surprise when I saw Grant, one of my past students at Grassy Park High, preparing sushi! Grant a reserved young man - as he was at school as well - looked bemused and slightly taken aback by the flood of questions I asked him. Never in my wildest dreams did I picture Grant as a chef in the first place.   Grant's colleague, Marwaan, was equally amused by the conversation which centred on Grant's occupation. My head was already well over the sushi bar counter at Pick 'n Pay. I wanted to see how Grant was preparing the California rolls and other sushi delicacies that have names I can never remember. He was preparing the shape of a hotdog length- sized California roll, to be cut into the bite sizes. How did both of them become Sushi chefs, I asked? Wasn't it difficult to learn how to make sushi? . I noticed even the cashier was hovering around to follow this conversation. Marwaan responded first...

Faeez is busy configuring my computer Our education district is in the process of migrating to a different mail client service provider. That means all our computers have to be reconfigured. Today it is the turn of our satellite office to be set up for the new mail client, Outlook, which is a Microsoft mail service. I received all this information from Faeez, the desktop technician, who is overseeing this migration process in my office. Faeez is a alumnus of Spine High School, in Mitchell's Plain. I wanted to know why Faeez had chosen this occupation. "They say you normally follow in your father's footsteps and that is true in my case. My father is in the IT industry and I was always exposed to computers. That is where my interest started. When Mweb advertised for interns, I was accepted and worked there in the call centre. I worked there for a year and then  moved to my present company,"said Faeez.  We discussed his high school. I asked ...

Sasha Before The start of the 2014 school year and the MBM buzz Look, I am risking my motherhood by writing this post about matric balls. But I need an outlet and you are my best confidant now. You see, my daughter, Sasha, is rather ambivalent about her relationship with me during this period. And it is all about this MBM ( Matric Ball Mania) fever that has struck our home. Only two weeks ago I was still the 'fun Mom'. Now I am more the grouch in the closet and her dad is probably the hippest dad on planet earth. I can't recall having a similar experience with Brett and Christo. They knew we had to hire a Tux, buy the shirt they identified and get the shoes. It was that easy. Not so with sister dearest, though. Everything was pretty quiet at the beginning of this year. Sasha and I had agreed last year (December 2013) already that her Matric Ball was going to be relatively low key financially, but an historic event. We decided on a limited budget and got all the a...

A few of the Lavender Hill High Grade 12s Lavender Hill Grade 12 learners themselves have amazing inspirational power. Today, we met the 126 Matric students, the class of 2014. A well-mannered group of young people who still have a sparkle in their eyes. The fact that these learners reached grade 12 despite their hardships and their daily grind to protect their souls and their integrity, is a morale booster for folk who have been spared such trauma. Despite their lived wisdom of how to overcome adversity, these very learners need a constant feed of motivation to remind them of their awesome power. Domingo sharing his " work-in-progress" journey with the learners Today it was Domingo's privilege to meet these future trendsetters and to add a nugget of hope. Like his audience, Domingo too attended a school in the "ghettoes" as he put it. He was here to share his journey of carving a new life for himself. Domingo entitled his talk "Against all odds". ...

Our prefect corps The needlework class While I was ironing linen this morning ( and cursing this boring task), my mind drifted back to the days of our Needlework class and our teacher, Ms Roeloff. That was one lady we never messed with. In fact, we were terrified of her and her eyes that bored into you. Her petite frame belied her thunderous, firm voice and her solid gait. She reminded me of Shakspeare's lover in " My mistress's eyes are nothing like the sun.' You could not describe her well-coiffured hair as 'wires' but she definitely ' walked (thumped) on the ground'. I suppose if Shrek was around in my day, I think they would have been a perfect match. Once we were inside the needlework classroom, you would make sure your spine is erect, your head well positioned on your shoulders and your eyes receptive to the greeting. Of course, you would already have ensured your shoes are clean and your fingernails are cut short and minus nail varni...