Pretoria High School For Girls (Pretoria)

Pretoria High School For Girls. Co-educational. Let that sink in. The name has "For Girls" right there in it, and yet, here we are, boys walking through the gates like nobody read the sign. That is not a school identity crisis, that is a whole school having an existential breakdown every morning at assembly. Somewhere a founding headmistress is spinning in her grave so fast she could power Pretoria through load shedding season. 1449 learners and 93 educators. That is a 15.6 to 1 ratio, which sounds fine until you realise your teacher is trying to give individual attention to sixteen teenagers who all think they are the main character. Good luck with that, sir. Or madam. Or whoever you are at this school that cannot decide what it is. Now the 99.2% matric pass rate. Okay, we see you. That is genuinely impressive. But also, who was the 0.8%? One person. Statistically one person did not make it through, and that person is going to spend the rest of their life at braais saying "I went to Pretoria High School For Girls" and someone is always going to ask "so did you pass?" The answer, mathematically, is maybe not. Overall verdict: A school so confused about its own identity it makes the ANC look decisive, but those matric results are so clean they almost make up for the whole "For Girls" situation.