Engen maths and science learners celebrated

Cape Town - The top-performing Cape Town learners who excelled in the Engen Maths and Science School (EMSS) were celebrated at the weekend.

An awards ceremony was held for the learners who completed their final year at the CPUT District Six campus on Saturday.

The programme, which has been running for over 35 years, provides free supplementary education to more than 1 500 learners annually at 10 of its centres across the country.

The two EMSS centres in Cape Town offer supplementary maths, science and English classes to Grades 10 to 12 learners every Saturday at CPUT and Manzomthombo Secondary School.

Its other centres are located in the Eastern Cape, Johannesburg and KwaZulu-Natal.

The top-performing learners in Cape Town were:

• Nasiha Latief, who achieved six distinctions at Rylands High School. Latief hoped to become a medical doctor.
• Inga Mhlauli, an alumnus from Manzomthombo Senior Secondary School, achieved seven distinctions including 98% in maths and 89% in science and English.
• Anathi Tosini from Masibambisane High School in Delft, achieved seven distinctions with 90% for English, 93% for maths and 86% for science. Tosini is set to study medicine at UCT this year.
• Avela Vanya from Mfuleni High School achieved six distinctions, and obtained 83% for English, 92% for maths and 86% for physical science. Vanya is set to study chemical engineering at UCT this year.

Mhlauli, currently studying for a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBChB) degree at UCT with the hopes of becoming a neurosurgeon, said: “They thoroughly reinforced topics that were covered in class during the week. This provided me with a platform to not only gain more information on the subject matter, but has allowed me to ask things I didn’t understand during the week. This kind of consolidation inflated my results.”

Secondary schools in the surrounding areas were feeder schools to EMSS centres, with teachers from these schools recommending learners to be a part of the programme.

Olwethu Mdabula, from Engen, said: “Maths, science and English are gateway subjects that are considered critical in addressing the country’s technical and engineering skills shortage as well as spurring economic growth and development.”

shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za

Cape Argus