An awards ceremony was held on Thursday for the best performing enrolled students.
- Two Western Cape students have received special ministry awards for overcoming obstacles and achieving excellent academic results.
- Luca Crouse, from Parklands College, completed his exams despite living with apraxia of speech – a speech sound disorder.
- Shimé van den Bergh, from Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof, was diagnosed with bone cancer during her matriculation year.
Two students from the Western Cape received special ministerial awards for achieving excellent matrix results, despite facing enormous obstacles.
At an awards ceremony on Thursday, Western Cape MEC for Education David Maynier praised the two pupils for showing “exceptional courage and determination”.
One of the ministerial awards went to Shimé van den Bergh by Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof.
Van den Bergh had a very difficult matriculation year, in which he was diagnosed with bone cancer.
“Just after her June exams, severe pain in her leg resulted in an operation to remove a growth and she had to wear a full leg brace. Unfortunately, the pain continued and worsened, and she underwent a second surgery to remove a growth. The operations consisted of transplanting the fibula from the calf to the thigh to replace the bone loss,” Maynier said.
“After a long stay in the hospital and recovery at home, and just three days before the start of final exams, he received some devastating news: he had bone cancer.”
Van den Bergh was told she couldn’t write her final exams, but decided to write them anyway, earning seven honors with an average of 91.3%.
READ | Underperforming Schools in Decline – Western Cape Education MEC
“Her head of grade says that she serves as an inspiration and role model for all people who, despite their limiting circumstances, rise above them and excel. She couldn’t agree more,” Maynier said.
Van den Bergh said her exams had been “quite challenging”.
“I was in a lot of pain while writing, so I had to go to the hospital several times during my final exams. There were a few days where I thought I wouldn’t be able to write, but I kept going and I’m so thankful I made it,” Van den said. Bergh.
She added that she was “surprised” to be one of the best in the province.
Van den Bergh added:
I never expected something like this to happen. I was also very grateful and could not have done it without the school staff, my family and friends. [who have been] supporting me
The cheerful teen said she plans to take a year off to focus on her health. She also plans to do some short courses to keep herself busy.
Van den Bergh said he plans to study medicine next year.
Leaving school, he said it’s a “bittersweet ending.”
“We’ve all been waiting for this day to come and I’m so glad to have gotten to where I am now, but it’s also pretty sad to see twelve years of school come to an end. Overall, I’m excited to see what comes next.” , said.
The other winner of the ministerial award for a student who succeeded despite facing difficult circumstances was given to Luca Crouse. from Parklands College.
Van den Bergh was one of the top matriculation achievers in the Western Cape
When he was 5 years old, Crouse was diagnosed with apraxia of speech, which is a speech sound disorder that prevented him from communicating orally and required him to have a facilitator to stabilize his hand to write.
“Despite this, he has always thrived in a mainstream school, with high academic scores and great talent for creative writing. His school was concerned that he would not be able to cope with the academic demands of a mainstream school when he moved on to high school,” Maynier said.
“They need not have worried: he continued to do well in high school, despite the challenge presented by the Covid-19 pandemic.”
During his matriculation exams, Crouse worked with a facilitator who steadied his hand as he wrote in very large letters, sometimes just five to six words per page, which were then transcribed for correction.
READ ALSO | ‘Don’t give up, even when you fail’: A young Lavender Hill mother finally gets tuition
“This resulted in me spending five to six hours at the exam site on some occasions. On days when she also had an exam in the afternoon, she had no rest between jobs. Her courage and commitment paid off: she achieved an 82% average with four distinctions,” Maynier said.
He added that Crouse served as “an example to all of us.”
Crouse had not responded to News24’s request for comment at the time of publication.
