CAPE Town’s eie Rayyan Ebrahim, of Pinelands High School, is the nation’s top achiever.
Together with classmate Matthew Christopher Wise, the slimkoppe achieved 100% passes in the 2024 National Senior Certificate examinations.
With the Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube announcing an all-time highest national pass rate of 87.3% on Monday evening, thousands of matriculants flocked to their schools to learn their individual results yesterday.
Top achiever Rayyan, 18, was over the moon, speaking from Johannesburg, where he had attended Monday’s special event for Mzansi’s slimste, hosted by Minister Gwarube.
He plans on studying Data Science to make South Africa a better place.
He tells IOL: “It [Data Science] combines maths, computer science and business knowledge to solve real world problems, which I am excited for because it is so relevant to South Africa’s needs.
His fellow Pinelands alumnus, Wise, also 18, meanwhile received 92% for Further Studies Mathematics (FSM), Matrices and Graph Theory, and 93% for Calculus and Algebra.
He tells the Cape Argus: “I was surprised and relieved.
“I would say that hard work pays off and it is thanks to my teachers for the quality of education they have provided.
“Pinelands High School’s teaching is of a good quality and this is evident with the school achieving 100% pass rate and with Rayyan.”
Wise said he was also planning to study Data Science and has enrolled in a Bachelors in Statistics and Data Science at the University of Cape Town.
He has been placed in the Top 1% of candidates for FSM Standard (Calculus and Algebra) in South Africa.
Pinelands High School principal, Graham Sayer, said he couldn’t be prouder.
The palie says: “It is wonderful for a community to have strong role models and Rayyan and Matthew are excellent examples of hard work and perseverance and making the best possible use of their talents.
“We are really grateful to them for the example they have set for the other students. And we hope that this will be emulated in the future!”