BizNews BizNews Radio

Queen’s college blueprint to turnaround education in the heart of the Eastern Cape – Headmaster Janse van der Ryst

Loading player...
South Africa’s education system faces significant challenges, with Grade 5 pupils ranking last globally in mathematics and science, and an alarming 81% of children unable to read for meaning by age 10. Yet, Queen’s College Boys’ High School in Komani, where 94% of students are Xhosa-speaking, defies the odds in a province that lags behind its neighbour, the Western Cape. In an interview with BizNews, Headmaster Janse van der Ryst attributed the success of Queen’s College to six pillars: daily excellence, upholding identity, active participation—where no one is allowed to sit out and everyone attends sports matches until the final whistle—mutual support, community service, and solution-finding. Van der Ryst, a former Boland cricketer, believes this blueprint could be replicated to improve education in the Eastern Cape and other rural areas, such as the Transkei.
12 Sep 2025 11AM English South Africa Investing · Business News

Other recent episodes

Ian Cameron: 30 detectives, 3 chairs, 1 laptop

In his latest interview with Chris Steyn, Ian Cameron, the Chair of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Police, shares the shocking findings of his latest oversight visit. He describes finding, at one station, over 30 detectives sharing an office container with only three chairs and one laptop and no official detective…
21 Oct 12PM 19 min

BN Edge | Dawie Roodt on MTBPS: a corner turned, but for the wrong reason

Enoch Godongwana told Parliament that South Africa had emerged from the fiscal wilderness. Dawie Roodt agreed the corner had been turned, just not for the reasons the minister would want. Debt had stabilised and the primary surplus was growing, but the improvement came from a commodity windfall, an aggressive SARS…
21 Oct 11AM 33 min

WSM: Is a vote for a small party wasted? | Jaundiced Eye

Johannesburg twice handed its mayoralty to a party that won less than 1% of the vote. With 547 parties and almost 137,000 candidates chasing 10,526 council seats on 4 November, Jaundiced Eye columnist William Saunderson-Meyer argued that most of those names were vanity projects or job-seekers, and that the big…
21 Oct 9AM 25 min

How the ACDP has resisted coalition bribery | Wayne Thring

With Local Government Elections looming, all eyes are on KZN. In this interview with Chris, Steyn, eThekwini Mayoral Candidate and Deputy President of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Wayne Thring, describes how his party resisted bribery involving millions and even an offer of an ambassadorship. “Our councillors were offered…
21 Oct 6AM 32 min
All episodes