HoëRskool Die Wilgers (Pretoria)

Okay so HoëRskool Die Wilgers in Pretoria, let's talk about this place. 784 learners, 41 teachers, a 19 to 1 ratio. That means one teacher is basically herding a small village of teenagers every single period. Sir is not teaching anymore, Sir is just doing crowd control and praying load shedding cuts the day short before period 4. But listen, 98.5% matric pass rate though. That is genuinely impressive. Die Wilgers is out here carrying Pretoria on its back like a Woolworths bag that somehow did not break. You lot are not playing around, the school might be pushing 20 kids per teacher but clearly somebody is staying late and actually doing the work, whether that is the teachers or the Grade 12s drinking energy drinks at midnight, we salute you all equally. Now the name, Die Wilgers, means The Willows, which is a very peaceful, gentle, swaying-in-the-breeze kind of name for what is essentially a Pretoria public school where 784 teenagers are running around. Nothing about 784 co-ed high schoolers says "willow tree gently by the river." That sounds more like a taxi rank during load shedding. But hey, Pretoria does what Pretoria does, jacaranda trees, government buildings, and schools that somehow just work while Cape Town is still arguing about the mountain views. Overall verdict: Die Wilgers looks like it was named by a poet but runs like a machine, respect where respect is due, even if the teacher to learner ratio is giving mild anxiety.