HoëRskool Die Anker (Johannesburg)

Brakpan. BRAKPAN. Jy weet hoe is dit, the school could have been anywhere in Gauteng and it landed in Brakpan. Die Anker, which means "The Anchor," and honestly that tracks because something is definitely keeping this school firmly planted right there on the East Rand and not going anywhere near Sandton any time soon. Now 1392 learners with only 67 teachers gives you a ratio of 20.8 to one. That means your teacher is basically running a taxi rank at the front of the class. Standing room only, someone is always late, and the driver is definitely not waiting for you. When load shedding hits and the projector goes off, those 67 teachers must just stare into the dark and hope the kids sort themselves out. But here is where I have to give it up, because a 99.5% matric pass rate is genuinely not a joke. That is almost perfect. Out of 1392 learners going through what sounds like organised chaos with a teacher-to-learner ratio that would give the WCED a headache, Die Anker is quietly producing results that private schools with fancy swimming pools and R50 000 a year fees would kill for. The anchor metaphor suddenly makes sense. They are not going anywhere because they do not need to. Overall verdict: Looks like a school that was built during load shedding Stage 6 and somehow still keeps the lights on academically, Brakpan's best kept secret and arguably the East Rand's most underrated institution.