For pupils and teachers at high-flying Sibusisiwe High School in uMbumbulu, matric is a seven day affair each week.
Not only are teachers and pupils in class for 11 hours during weekdays, they can also be found at the school on weekends.
The poor rural school has been defying odds in recent years by producing top marks for matric.
For the class of 2017 it managed to produce four pupils who scored eight distinctions each and no less than 90 other A students.
“For matric we are a seven day school and that helps create the mentality (in pupils) that in matric it’s just me and my books. Here we do not say to learners you must pass but we say to them you must pass well,” school principal Sipho Khomo said yesterday.
The principal has been praised by many as being behind the school's success.
When asked about this, Khomo prefers to attribute the success to his teachers.
“What we are achieving is due to the commitment of the whole team,” he said.
That commitment manifests itself in the long hours that teachers spend at the school, he explains. On normal schooldays matric classes start at 7am and finish at 6pm.
Thobeka Shange, one of the pupils who scored eight distinctions, sang Khomo’s praises, saying he was the reason why she excelled.
Having obtained distinctions in Zulu, English, Life Orientation, Maths, Geography, Life Sciences, Accounting and Physical Science, the 18-year-old’s dream is to study medicine at UCT.
But as one of seven children being raised by an unemployed mother, Thobeka hopes that she will get a bursary.
Nombuso Mkhize, another pupil with eight distinctions at Sibusisiwe, wants to study medicine at UKZN and also hopes her marks will score her a bursary as both her parents are unemployed.
“One has to thank the teachers who worked extra hard. We as pupils also worked hard, so much so that one would end up sleeping for only four hours,” she said.
Another school principal who subscribes to putting in more effort in order to achieve good results is Vusumuzi Dlamini of Umlazi’s Ogwini Comprehensive High School.
The school is a victim of its own success as each year pupils flock in to try to register. In 2017, 535 of its pupils sat for matric and Dlamini says there is no class with less than 60 pupils at his school. This didn’t stop more than 100 pupils from the school attaining distinctions.
While Dlamini holds a PhD in Educational Psychology and an MBA, he believes being a principal is the best way to serve the nation.
Even in December, Dlamini was already preparing for the year ahead to ensure that teaching begins from day one of school.
“There are no off days. I believe I have to lead by example. I am at the school at 6am each morning and I leave at 6pm. If we have school governing body meetings I even leave at 11pm.”