NATASHA Kameeta from a village school, Da-Palm Senior Secondary School at Otjimbingwe in the Erongo Region, scooped the best performer prize in the 2011 Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate (NSSC) ordinary level exams.
In the results released by The Ministry of Education yesterday, Kameeta obtained four A* symbols (distinctions) – in Physical Science, Biology, Business Studies, Geography, an A in Mathematics and a B in English as a second language.’I’m shocked about the result myself. I just went the extra mile by studying very hard, I was always with my schoolbooks studying. I kept away from bad friends with bad influences. I had no cellphone and gave 100 per cent to my schoolwork,’ Kameeta said briefly before declining to comment further, saying she was instructed not to talk about her results before they were officially out.In second position is Etosha Secondary School’s Ndahambelela Nakale, who was graded with two A*s in Physical Science and Accounting, and four A symbols in English as a second language, Biology, Mathematics and Business Studies.’It feels great, almost unbelievable. I am lost for words,’ Nakale reacted after being told she was the second best in the country. According to her, she prepared three weeks in advance, because her timetable was ‘hectic’ during her first week of exams. ‘I made sure that I had enough rest and I revised once in a while. I also consulted my teachers when I got confused. Most of all, I prayed to God to give me strength to study,’ she said about her formula to success. Ndahambelela plans to study Biomedical Science at the Polytechnic of Namibia because of her love for laboratories.Maria Ngoma from St Boniface College in the Kavango Region took third spot with four distinctions while fourth place went to Paresis High School pupil Garab Moses. Last year, The Namibian published two SMSes about the state of the Da-Palm senior secondary school, the same school which produced the country’s top performer.One of the SMSes read: ‘Mr Abraham Iyambo we have a problem at Da-Palm Secondary School. We suffer because the water has been finished for about two weeks and it’s a village. We are also not allowed to use cellphones while we are so far from our parents. So please come and visit our school! Teachers, the principal and hostel staff do not want to listen to our points.’Another text read: ‘We really have a problem. We don’t have computer classes and the copy machine is always broken.’It seems that Kameeta conquered all these obstacles to come out tops.St Boniface College, a Roman Catholic Church school, is not a newcomer to top academic performances. Last year, nine of its pupils were among the ten best overall performers.This year, the school still dominated the top ten with five of its pupils among the top achievers. Among them are Herman Muremi, Eira Turukatu, Herman Shikusho and Leonela Gabriel. Efforts to contact the principal were unsuccessful. However, it is public information that the school enforces rigid disciplinary measures. Northern Namibia has three pupils in the top ten, namely Elifas Elisa from Haimbili Haufiku Senior Secondary School at Eenhana in the Ohangwena Region and the Etosha Secondary School duo Ndahambelela and Silas Iileka.
