Nur-Ul-Islam School (Soweto)

Nur-Ul-Islam School in Lenasia, where 228 learners are somehow sharing 18 teachers and everyone knows everyone's business. With a 12.7 to 1 ratio, your teacher does not just know your name, she knows your mother, your aunty, your cousins in Fordsburg, and exactly why you were late on Tuesday. There is nowhere to hide. You cannot even pretend to be sick because Mrs Moosa probably lives three streets away and will see you buying chips at the shop. But listen, 100% matric pass rate. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. In Lenasia. With 228 kids. That is not a school, that is a family WhatsApp group that does homework together. Somebody's dad is definitely on the school governing body AND coaching the cricket team AND making sure his child passes. The whole community has skin in this game and it shows. 228 learners in a combined school means the Grade 1s are watching the matrics panic about their trials and learning early that life is stressful. The Grade 12s are basically celebrities on campus. You walk past the junior classes and the little ones look at you like you are Springbok players. Eighteen teachers for a combined school also means someone is definitely teaching two different subjects and pretending that is totally normal. Overall verdict: Nur-Ul-Islam is basically a small family business that somehow cracked the matric code, and honestly the whole of Lenasia deserves to brag about it.