Rustenburg prison school aims for 100% pass rate in matric results

While thousands of learners are anxiously awaiting their matric results on Tuesday, educators and offender learners at Rustenburg prison school Thuto-Kitso Secondary School are aiming for a 100% pass rate and top accolades.

They will have their national matric results announcement and award ceremony later this month, on January 19.

The Department of Correctional Services said they are confident that all the learners will pass, following an academic year defined by high discipline, perseverance, and consistent educator support. The school has a proven record of success, producing several top achievers and enabling numerous inmates to progress to tertiary education.

Educator Botshelo Tabane confirms the current cohort's determination to succeed. "This group is focused not only on passing but on excelling and surpassing previous records," Tabane stated.

He highlighted the school's sustained improvement. "Since our inaugural exams in 2016, which yielded a 67% pass rate, we have proudly maintained a 100% pass rate in the subsequent years to date."

Tabane credits this excellence to a strategic educational pipeline. "We collaborate closely with a feeder Adult Education and Training (AET) school. For post-matric pathways, we channel learners to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges or to the Losperfontein UNISA support centre for higher education".

Demonstrating this ambition, offender learners Tebogo Ngulube, Peter Machete, and Brandon Rouls have committed to raising the academic bar.

Brandon Rouls, 23, who is serving a 20-year sentence, sees education as fundamental. "I was incarcerated at the age of 17. Education has become my primary tool for rehabilitation, preparing me for a better life beyond these walls".

Tebogo Ngulube, serving a 15-year sentence, began preparing during the 2024 festive season. He now hopes for six distinctions out of seven subjects to pursue a Law degree.

For Peter Machete, who dropped out in Grade 9, incarceration in 2017 marked a turning point. Now serving a 25-year sentence, he returned to school through self-motivation and the AET programme. "Formal education expands your thinking and opens new perspectives. I am using this time to reflect and rebuild my future," Machete said. The school has consistently achieved a 100% pass rate since 2017.

The Department of Correctional Services provides formal education to offenders as part of its rehabilitation and reintegration efforts. Over the years, the department has steadily expanded access to schooling inside correctional facilities in partnership with the Department of Basic Education. For the 2024 matric exams, inmates achieved a high pass rate of 96.2%, an improvement from the previous year, with many achieving Bachelor passes.

zelda.venter@inl.co.za