V M Kwinana Senior Secondary School (Kariega)

Okay so VM Kwinana Senior Secondary in Kwanobuhle, Kariega. No fees. Government funded. 1101 learners and only 41 teachers trying to hold it all together. Bru, that is a 26.9 to 1 ratio, meaning your teacher is basically doing a TED Talk to a small village every single period. You think your teacher knows your name? Your teacher does not know your name. Your teacher knows you as "the one who sits near the window" and "the one who always asks to go to the toilet." And listen, 1101 kids with no fees means the government is footing the bill, which in the Eastern Cape means the textbooks probably arrived in 2019 and some of them are still in the boot of a bakkie somewhere between Kariega and Gqeberha. The school is co-ed which is fine, but with nearly 30 kids per teacher, the love interests are basically self-supervised at this point. Sir is busy. Sir has 26 other problems. BUT HERE IS THE THING THOUGH. A 95.2% matric pass rate. From a no-fee school in Kwanobuhle with teachers who are basically outnumbered like it is a Black Friday sale at Shoprite. That is not a result, that is a miracle. These kids and teachers are quietly embarrassing some fancy R50 000 a year schools and doing it for free. Absolute respect. Overall verdict: VM Kwinana looks chaotic on paper but delivers results that would make a Bishops parent cry into their school fees invoice.