University of the Witwatersrand gets 100% Matric pass for its Targeting Talent Programme participants
The Targeting Talent Programme (TTP) hosted by Wits University targets learners in Grades 10 to 12. The TTP aims to facilitate access to higher education for under-privileged youth from under-resourced communities. It helps to prepare learners academically, socially, and psychologically for access to higher education. Participating learners are selected in Grade 10 and are nurtured until they matriculate.
Forty-eight Grade 12 learners who completed the TTP sat for the 2022 National Senior Certificate (NSC) exam and these learners achieved a 100% pass rate. They earned 140 distinctions collectively across all subjects. Ninety-four percent of the learners achieved a bachelor’s [eligible for university] pass while 6% of the learners achieved a diploma pass.
“Congratulations to our TTP class of 2022 for their hard work and dedication to their studies,” says Zena Richards, Director of the Wits Student Equity and Talent Management Unit, which runs the programme.
TTP consists of three residential sessions a year – one week each in the autumn and spring vacations, and two weeks during the winter break. The programme is designed to help learners develop the strengths that underpin successful performance at university level.
It empowers them with critical university-level skills including the use of information technology, library resources, time management and the capacity for self-directed learning.
Learners engage in a holistic development programme in which they attend lectures in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), social research, English, computer sciences, and critical diversity. They also participate in sports and wellness programmes including yoga, pilates, and dance.
In 2022, the programme celebrated 16 years of supporting high school learners. Since its inception in 2006, TTP has supported 3022 learners from across the country, and primarily targets academically deserving learners from rural and township schools.
Outstanding results are nothing new for TTP ‘graduates’. In 2021, the pass rate for TTP learners was 97% with 90% achieving a bachelor’s pass. This is compared to the 76% pass rate of the NSC matric class, of which just 36% achieved a bachelor’s pass.