#CommitToFinish: WCED launches campaign to motivate Grade 12s

This year has certainly been a tumultuous year for our Grade 12 learners and their teachers. Despite the disruptive school year, they have shown true grit and determination! They have shown how resilient they are and I am extremely proud of them.

There have been spectacular stories of continuous learning, even during Level 5 restrictions. Teachers, learners and subject advisors communicated via various social media platforms, learners took initiative and began self-learning at home, and the use of alternative resources for learning and revision, through our e-portal and website, increased significantly.

Our Class of 2020 is determined and we are here to support them all the way. That is why we have launched the #CommitToFinish campaign which seeks to encourage, motivate and support our Grade 12 learners right up until their NSC examinations.

While matric attendance at schools is at 90%, we do not want to see learners dropping out or self-doubt creeping in. These learners have worked so hard for the past 12 years to reach this point and we want to support them in finishing their matric year.

This choice will change their life and the life of those around them. Hence the campaign line – You will thank yourself later!

The campaign focuses on the “Future You” (an older version of the matriculant) thanking the younger version for making the right choice to finish their matric year.

Using the AE Face Tool we filmed three Grade 12 learners from Parel Vallei High School and transformed their faces into an older-looking version of themselves. This allowed their future selves to thank their younger selves for making the choice to finish their matric year.

Watch video here:

• English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEmezAnErkg
• Afrikaans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyPcowFpyao
• IsiXhosa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or_6ynfWIsY

Grade 12 learners will be encouraged to pledge their commitment on a website created for them – www.CommitToFinish.co.za – where learners can #CommitToFinish their matric year and access various resources available to them:

The learner will receive a notification of their commitment and will encourage them to get their fellow learners to do the same.

The campaign has been launched on various social media platforms, in communities on billboards, and directly to candidates via sms and emails to schools. Learners will also personally receive an examination support booklet which will encourage them to #CommitToFinish. It provides advice on the examination, bursary options and support networks, as well as old exam papers for eight high-enrolment subjects. (English Home Language, Afrikaans First Additional Language, Accounting, Business Studies, Geography, History, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Mathematical Literacy and Physical Sciences.)

Past experience has shown that some learners become despondent at the end of the year, following their “Trial Exams”, and may make the decision to drop out.  

Their future self is telling them to make the right choice – to finish their matric year. I know I certainly have “thanked myself for it” years later.

Let us all continue to support, encourage and motivate the Class of 2020.