First Diplomas Of The Year Handed Out At Helen Van Rhijn School

It’s exam time of year again, students are stuck in sweaty classrooms striving over pages of questions and teachers are stuck in the inevitable build up of marking papers and arranging their lessons for next year. How refreshing it was then, to be invited to an event which celebrated educational achievement instead of focusing on what is still to be done.

The booming voice of Mrs R K Makaula, the Director of Ceremonies, announced the beginning of the annual Helene Van Rhijn diploma evening and the room collectively rose to its feet to sing the National Anthem and the Helene Van Rhijn school song which is backed by the school choir. Following this the audience were led in a prayer (and not for the first time did I wish I spoke Afrikaans) before then the award ceremony began. Starting with the youngest children in Grade One every child that has achieved over 70% in a range of subjects, including Mathematics, English, Home Economy, Natural Sciences, Social Studies, Afrikaans and Design and Technology, was presented with a certificate and a round of applause. As the evening progressed and the ages of the smiling and slightly abashed children increased the thought occured to me that this evening serves as a reminder of how much education should be valued. I come from a country where being a high achiever is often viewed by young teenagers as being a bad thing, where parents often do not support or appreciate their child’s education and where being a head boy or girl is social suicide so it’s fantastic to see a group of young people, in immaculate school uniforms, cheering each other on and applauding educational achievement (although having said that the cheers for the sporting achievement awards were considerably more enthusiastic).

After the main awards the school choir, who are also immaculately dressed, lulled the audience with a few warm melodies and dancing before the special awards for the top learners, sporting legends and scientific geniuses were handed out to whoops and calls from the child section of the hall. Mr Visser, the acting principle for the school, rounded off the evening and I was presented with some complimentary cake making the whole event a thoroughly enjoyable occasion.