For 12th graders the world over, exam results day is an emotionally charged rollercoaster. Did they make their grades? Have they done enough to confirm their college place? What if things didn’t go to plan?
For teens in South Africa’s township communities, there’s even more riding on their exam success. It’s not purely their own hopes and dreams that are at stake. It’s also the future prospects for their families.
We all know that growing up in a low-income environment comes with a multitude of stressors. And that goes double for those who have endured the lingering inequities of an apartheid system.
So, expectations are high for youngsters who have knuckled down and stayed in school through 12th grade (known as Matric in South Africa). Not only that they will go on to tertiary study and eventually secure good jobs for themselves, but that they will also help to uplift and take care of their families.
It’s a huge burden for a high school senior to carry but one that the teens on Infinite Family’s mentorship program are prepared for. Yet, this year’s graduating cohort faced extra challenges. On top of the Covid 19 pandemic, lengthy and disruptive blackouts (power cuts) impacted them at a critical time in their school journey.
So it is a great relief, and a joy, to see that their results reflect their consistent, hard work as well as the resilience and responsibility they’ve developed while balancing their school obligations with their often onerous personal circumstances.
Once again, in 2024, against a national average of 75%, 86% of Infinite Family’s 12th-grade students achieved a bachelor’s or diploma level pass (qualifying them for top-tier universities). Since 2008, 97% of our mentored matric students have qualified for college or university!
This means that, if they can overcome their next challenge – which is to secure the funding to accept the places they’ve been offered at universities and colleges around the country – almost all of our teens will be able to pursue the dreams and goals they’ve set for themselves.
This year, that includes undergraduate programs in Law, Business, Education, Accounting, Computer Science, Nuclear Medicine Technology, and Aviation. (We now have three potential pilots in our Infinite Family!)
Click here if you would like to help sponsor a teen to go to college or university: $150 buys books for one year and $4,670 sponsors a full year of university studies.