It’s never too late to finish matric of improve your results, which could give you access to opportunities to further your studies.
This was the message at an event held on Sunday June 20, at which University of South Africa lecturer Doctor Koketso Rakhudu said the Department of Education had opened its doors to people who want to improve their matric results, whether they wrote matric recently or even decades ago.
He urged those gathered to register with the department using their matric registration numbers.
Dr Koketso Rakhudu Foundation, in conjunction with Doctor Thembisa Skaap and Old Apostolic Church under the deacon Mzoxolo Kunana will start a matric support programme to upskill those who want to finish it.
Dr Rakhudu said they wanted to offer a chance for people to be what they want to be irrespective of their ages.
“We have designed a programme that specifically speaks to their needs. Our main priority is the Grade 12s. We will only facilitate the programme and the department of education will do the marking. But people need to register with the department,” he told Vukani.
The move emerged as the church realised how some of its members and the community are struggling to make ends meet because of the lack of matric or poor results. “We want to start with the programme in early July or as much as we can. We want to fasttrack the programme so that people can gain enough information and knowledge,” he said
Ms Skaap said they were happy to have people like Dr Rakhudu come and upskill people of Cape Town. She said they had successful programmes together in the past.
“We are aware that without matric, many doors remain closed. But should one have a matric, there is a light at the end of the tunnel,” she said.
Ms Skaap urged those present to spread the word about the programme. “Matric is a necessity these days. In fact, education is a necessity. There is nothing one can do without it,” she said.
Mr Kunana said the church was happy to be involved in the initiative because many of their congregants were disadvantaged in more ways than one.
“We felt it was not fair to look at the spiritual side only while people are suffering. We aim to develop our congregants and many other people in the area where we worship.
“Another notable thing was that, this time of the pandemic, technology is the most used tool. By giving people education, we are exposing them to such a world of technology so they can be relevant,” he said.
On the day interested members of the community lined up at the church to register for the programme.
According to the organisers, the first batch would become facilitators of the programme. After their three-week training, they will do a three-month course on leadership and conflict resolution.
Dr Skapp and the Dr Koketso Foundation have been training leaders from different spheres of life, lifeskills and leadership to achieve their independence. The duo said they have now agreed to help many community members to finish at least their matric.