Pretoria – Reality television just became a lot more real for five young people who realised their dreams of matriculating after being on Dream School SA.
Abbotts College joined Dream School in season 2 in 2015 offering each of the young people a full scholarship for two years. The weekly show on SABC 2 was followed by many on WeChat.
The show pulled out all the stops creating star pupils from a group aged between 15 and 19.
These teens had fallen through the education system cracks for one or another reason.
The Dream School show encouraged those pupils to go back to school and finish their matric year, and turn their lives around.
Abbotts College Pretoria East enrolled five of these youngsters who were among the 101 full-time candidates who achieved a 100% pass rate. They include Pamela Thanyane, whose initial dream on the show was to study astronomy. But, she soon realised that sometimes one’s childhood dreams weren't always a possibility. She will study law instead.
She achieved an overall average of 62%.
Given the opportunity to complete her matric, Felicia Tshabalala achieved a bachelor degree pass, obtaining a solid 76% for Zulu.
Check out our special Matric Results page here
Viewers of the show will remember Lerato Selepe as a young lady with a deep philosophical mindset who has strong opinions and beliefs. She also achieved a bachelor’s degree pass with subjects including drama and computer application technology. She is planning to study film and production at Vega.
Jackie Sterley initially dropped out of school due to peer pressure and involving herself in unsound relationships. Viewers will remember a young lady with strong determination and this led to success in the end. She is ready to enrol at Unisa to continue with a course that will eventually lead up to a degree.
She is confident that she will be able to enter the job market within the hospitality industry to help her with future self-funded studies at Unisa.
And, who will forget Refilwe Dlunge, the girl with the voice. Her dream was to matriculate with drama as a subject, and she did it. She obtained a diploma pass but will be applying for a re-mark in one subject. Should she be successful with this, she too will have a bachelor degree pass. Once this is complete she is planning to study an arts degree.
Principal Anthony van Rensburg said it had been a wonderful experience for these pupils. "Abbotts College Pretoria wishes them all the very best of success for future years. We are proud that we were able to, not only provide each one of them with a solid matric result, but also with a life-changing opportunity."