WBPHS excels in NSSCH exams
Retains position in the top 10
09 February 2021 | Education
Neville Andre; Erongo governor; “I am very proud to be the governor of this region...”
Walvis Bay Private High School (WBPHS) clinched the sixth position nationally amongst private schools in the Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Higher (NSSCH) 2020 examinations.
The governor of the Erongo region, Neville Andre, paid a visit to the school on Tuesday to congratulate the learners, teachers, principal and governing body.
“After facing numerous challenges in terms of the Covid-19 pandemic and after Walvis Bay was the epicentre of the pandemic, you still rose to the top. We faced very difficult circumstances and as the people of Walvis Bay, we were really challenged. However, we have seen that despite this difficult situation, Walvis Bay Private still managed to be one of the top performers in the country. Is that not something to be celebrated?”
Andre said that the learners not only made their parents proud, but him as well. “I am very proud to be the governor of this region – the region of excellence.”
Addressing the grade 11s, Andre encouraged the learners to do better than the class of 2020. “Always believe in God and always be confident in yourself. The class of 2020 did it in exceptional circumstances. Now that we have settled into the new normal, why can’t you do better?
“Believe in yourself and respect your elders at all times. Listen to your teachers. You can do better and I want you to do better.”
He expressed his gratitude towards the teachers and the parents, saying, “These learners are the future of our country. Let us actively invest in their future and do more for them to deliver better results.”
WBPHS principal Henjan van der Hyde, said that he is extremely proud of the results achieved by the 2020 class. “The learners did very well. We had many challenges last year. We went into lockdown from 13 March until 1 September and only then could we start teaching in smaller groups.”
He added that they experienced various challenges when it came to e-learning, because not everyone is computer savvy. “It was a challenge to our teachers and especially our parents who are not teachers but had to step into that role. We have excellent staff at school and they did an excellent job for us to achieve these results.”
He added that the dedication of parents, learners and teachers played a huge role in the results. “We wish them all the best with their studies for this year.”
Van der Hyde said that in 2019 the school placed second in the NSSCH exams. “Although we shifted to sixth position, we achieved a 95% rate of quality symbols compared to the 92% of last year.
“The class of 2020 made history by improving the percentage of quality symbols. We had 20 less 1 gradings, but we achieved 26 more 2’s and 30 more 3’s, which is excellent.”
Furthermore, he said that they are now better equipped to tackle challenges brought on by the pandemic. “Everyone in the country was caught off guard, but for this year a proper plan and targets are in place to ensure that we improve.”
In 2017, Renate Potgieter from WBPHS was the top NSSCH student nationally and in 2019 Maurice Hinterholzer took the spot in the same exams. Both are currently pursuing tertiary studies in medicine.