29 January 2023
Sasol handed out awards to Grade 12 top achievers, teachers and best-performing schools as part of the company’s long-standing commitment to supporting excellence in education.
The Grade 12 Merit Awards recognises top achievers from schools around the Gert Sibande District Municipality.
Top achievers with between 3 to 7 distinctions in selected subjects were awarded prizes, including learners from the schools supported by the Osizweni Science Centre.
This centre, which has been in operation since 1991, is a Sasol education flagship initiative for maths, science and technology.
The Sasol Grade 12 Awards are meant to motivate learners to take up Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, and eventually pursue careers in these disciplines.
Sasol handed ten full bursaries to overall top achievers. In addition, the best educator in Mathematics and Physics, the overall best-performing school and the best-performing educators in quintile 1 – 3 schools for Science, Engineering and Mathematics received recognition certificates.
The prize for the overall best-performing school in Technical Mathematics in the Standerton sub-district and Ehlanzeni Region went to Hoёrskool Hoogenhout. At the same time, Mkolishi Secondary School took the best-performing school in Physical Sciences in quintiles 1-3.
Langa Secondary School was recognised as the most improved school. The four top achievers with seven distinctions all came from Hoerskool Secunda.
Speaking at the event, Victor Bester: Senior Vice President at Sasol, said, “This is a proud moment for Sasol.
This year marks 28 years since the inception of the Sasol Grade 12 Merit Awards, and approximately R900 000 was awarded to learners”.
The Matric Class of 2022 had the lagest cohort of candidates, with 753 964 full-time and 167 915 part-time candidates registered to write their final matric exams.
A total of 278 814 pupils achieved a bachelor’s pass.
The Secunda event was preceded by regional awards in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, where top achievers received Sasol sponsored prizes which will contribute towards their studies.
Over the past five years, Sasol invested about R1. 9 billion in education, of which R473 million was channeled to bursary programmes across South Africa.
