Basic Education Minister, Mrs Angie Motshekga, visited the Waterberg District, Bela-Bela in the Limpopo Province on 17 June 2018 as part of the Youth Month activities to recruit young people who have not completed their National Senior Certificate (NSC) to enrol for the Second Chance Matric Support Programme.
Addressing the community of Bela-Bela, Minister Motshekga said, "There might have been challenges in life that have prevented you from writing matric; use this second chance as an opportunity to get back on track. The second most important document a young person can own after a birth certificate, is a qualification that opens a world of career opportunities for you. Having a skilled population helps eliminate unemployment, and consequently poverty which is a national problem, and by eliminating poverty, the issues such as equity and regress are addressed in terms of the socio-economic status of the country.”
The Programme is targeted at learners and individuals who failed to meet the requirements of the NSC, the Senior Certificate (SC), or are seeking to upgrade their subjects and are enrolled as part-time candidates. Though the Programme, the Province has been able to increase the number of learners, who have not only completed the NSC, but also acquired their Bachelor’s passes.
Amongst the members that attended were a group of former learners from Maope Secondary School, who established the 100 Kids to Varsity Programme, which offers after-school Mathematics and Science classes so as to help improve learner performance. One of the learners from the 100 Kids to Varsity Programme addressed community members saying, "I joined the Programme because I wanted to succeed, and you will never succeed if you don't take yourself seriously and believe that you deserve success".
There are currently a total of 12 DBE funded centres within the Province, as well as a total number of 65 provincially funded centres, with a growing participation rate as the DBE, together with the Limpopo Province, is working on establishing more centres to accommodate the numbers of candidates registering for the Programme. The participation in the Second Chance Matric Programme has been growing steadily and both learners and teachers have been working effortlessly to strengthen the Programme and to establish additional centres across all provinces.