CAPE TOWN – According to one of South Africa’s top matriculant candidates for the 2022 academic year, attaining this title required a lot of effort and commitment. Kelly Grace Prowse, a student at Rustenburg Girls’ High School, won the Quintile 5 competition and took first place in mathematics.

Like every pupil, she had to bear the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic and the adverse effects it had on schooling.“In COVID there were definitely sections of different subjects that were neglected, and rightfully so, because you could not get through the whole curriculum, but it meant that from grade 11 and matric, it had to be a lot of work on my own time and a lot of work with the teachers to catch up on those sections that were kind of overlooked. In that part, matric was even busier trying to get on top of everything.”

So, what’s next for the country’s top achiever?

“I’m actually going to be studying actuarial science, probably at UCT, so we’ll see. I’m hoping that I enjoy it, I love my maths, obviously, so I’m sure I will. So, yeah, I’ll see where the wind takes me.”