KZN’s best salutes teachers | News
Following in the footsteps of two of his sisters, Gareth Mogambery – the top pupil nationally for quintile 5 (advantaged) schools – will study medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal this year.
The soft-spoken 17-year-old achieved eight distinctions in the National Senior Certificate exams, as well as a ninth distinction for advanced programme maths through the Independent Examinations Board.
Gareth, who attended New West Secondary School in Newlands West, said that although the school charged modest fees, it had exceptional teachers who “pushed me to do my best”.
He said his family were also largely to thank for his educational success, with his younger sister, Alcine, credited for “cutting out pictures for his posters”.
“I am very close to my family. My older sisters come home almost every weekend from Pietermaritzburg. We are a close family.”
He said there was no doubt that he was influenced by his sisters to do medicine and although he had not decided on what area to specialise in, it would not be surgery as he was not keen on “cutting people”.
“It hasn’t all quite sunk in yet,” said Gareth after the provincial government’s matric awards ceremony held in Durban on Tuesday.
“I was told on Saturday that I would be flying to Johannesburg for the national awards and then yesterday (Monday) that I would attend these awards. It’s really quite exciting.”
He advised those entering matric this year to “buckle down and study” to ensure they also achieved success.
However, he admitted he was prone to procrastination on the odd occasion, by reading, playing his guitar or the piano instead of studying.
His father, Moses Mogambery, a chief education specialist for the KZN Department of Education, said his son had always remained calm, which helped him through the year.
“He loves reading, from the age of four. He’s also very interested in what he does, which helps.
“We’re fortunate that he does what he loves and focuses on that.”
- Published in Independent Newspapers on 7 January 2015.
