Big prizes for top matric achievers

The cream of the crop have less than a month to get their entries in for The Herald Matric of the Year.

Prizes valued at more than R120,000 are up for grabs, as well as bragging rights as the best matric in the Eastern Cape and Southern Cape.

Since 1993, school heads or representatives have been invited each year to nominate their leading grade 12 pupils.

The judges this year – education department curriculum manager Isaac Metembo and The Herald and Weekend Post editor Nwabisa Makunga – have been tasked with evaluating and selecting 20 finalists from top achievers.

Metembo said the school curriculum played a pivotal role in moulding and preparing pupils for tertiary education and the working world.

“It is encouraging to see the extra effort matriculants, teachers, parents [and] departmental officials are putting in to ensure the class of 2018 deliver results that will leave a legacy.”

Makunga said: “Our nation and our economy can only be developed when young minds are given the opportunity to reach their full potential.

“We are looking for young people who show character and an eagerness to learn, wellrounded individuals with a keen interest in the communities around them.”

Entries must be submitted by August 27 and include an entry form, a detailed curriculum vitae, a personal profile summary form, audited June examination results stamped by the principal, two reference letters, a copy of the entrant’s ID book and a head-and-shoulders photograph.

Entries can be posted or delivered to Matric of the Year Awards, Newspaper House, 19 Baakens Street, Central, PE for the attention of Berna Ulay Walters.

Entries can also be dropped off at Spec-Savers stores in Uitenhage, Walmer Park, Cleary Park, Korsten and Sunridge Village, as well as East London’s Vincent Park and Beacon Bay shopping centres.

Click here to enter.