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M U T

S P I R I T

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J A N U A R Y - M A R C H 2 0 2 0

Double honours for top Umlazi school

As the saying goes, there is no rest for the weary. This

was the case for Muntu Ntombela, principal of Menzi

High School, who had to travel from the National

Education Excellence Awards in Pretoria straight to

the Hilton Hotel in Durban to attend the MUT Circle

of Excellence Awards on the same day. The theme

for the COE awards was “quality education”, and that

certainly resonated with Menzi High School, which

left with a huge collection of awards on the evening

of 13 March 2020: five trophies, cash sponsorship to

the value of R15 000 as well as other educational and

individual prizes.

Menzi High School was once again celebrated as the

top performer in Umlazi Township, as they have been

for the past seven years of the Circle of Excellence

awards. The school was also rewarded for achieving

a 100% pass rate in Accounting, Physical Sciences

and English; a 98% pass rate in Mathematics; and

an overall pass rate of 100%, with a total of 280

distinctions and 141 bachelor passes.

The outstanding work of the leadership, teachers, and

learners of Menzi High School was lauded by the KZN

MEC for education, Mr Kwazi Mshengu during the

Menzi High school matric excellence awards early in

the year at the Durban ICC. “I want to especially thank

the principal and the school management team for the

sound leadership of the school. When Ms Ntombela

took leadership after the untimely passing of Mr

Mshololo, there were a lot of sceptics considering the

nature of patriarchy in our society. Please continue with

your good work, I am extremely impressed with what

is taking place at Menzi. We need Menzi High School

learners to help our country in fighting epidemics and

finding solutions to fight climate change,” said MEC

Mshengu.

The MEC’s wishes are already being realised as six

learners from the class of 2019 have been accepted at

Nelson Mandela University (NMU) to do medicine. Four

from the class of 2014 have completed their medical

degree at NMU, and one in Cuba, while another four

are due to complete their studies this year at UKZN’s

Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine.

MUT views its relationship with schools in the

immediate surrounding as a bold step towards the

revitalisation of Umlazi Township. The many pockets

of excellence that exist amongst the schools in Umlazi

are a good indication that the efforts of MUT, together

with its partners, are bearing fruit towards creating an

education ecosystem in the township.

to the core business of the schooling system which

is quality learning. Go forth and conquer the world

and keep up your excellent work.” The Department

of Basic Education report published on 8 January

indicated that Menzi High School was amongst the

104 schools in South Africa to achieve a 100% pass

rate consistently for a period of five years – of which

only 16 are in KwaZulu-Natal. This was out of a total

of 25,154 schools that wrote the National Senior

Certificate examinations in 2019.

In 2019, Menzi High School had a total of 151 learners

writing the NSC exam, with 141 achieving Bachelor

passes, 8 achieving Diploma passes and 2 achieving

Higher Certificate passes. The class of 2019 praised

their teachers for working hard in preparing them

for the exams, and were also proud to uphold the

school’s reputation. Principal Ntombela said, “It is all

a team effort. I am very proud of the many sacrifices

by the teachers and the entire staff of Menzi High

who sacrifice their family time making sure that all

learners, including those that are weaker than others,

receive good quality marks. These teachers do not

have weekends and school holidays. They are at

school teaching as if it was a normal school day.

To the staff, I am very thankful and appreciate your

dedication, respect and support to the management

of the school.”

“We compete with ourselves,” Muntu Ntombela, Menzi High

School Principal