Northlands Girls' High School pupil Saanvi Chitra placed third at the 2024 National Home Language English Olympiad awards in Grahamstown last week.
The grade 9 pupil, from Reservoir Hills, was the youngest finalist.
The competition, held earlier this year, drew more than 5 000 participants from 260 schools from South Africa as well as Lesotho and Botswana.
The participants, from grades 9 to 12, wrote the three-hour examination.
From the total number of pupils only 3 616 wrote the home language paper that Saanvi was part of and the others wrote the first additional language paper.
“Each year, the Olympiad is centred around a theme based on a literary anthology. The theme for the 2024 Olympiad was ‘Resilience’ based on the anthology, Now and Then," said Saanvi.
"The anthology was published by the South African Council for English Education (SACEE) and consisted of a selection of prose memoirs and a study guide compiled by 2024 chief examiner, Liz Herselman."
Saanvi added that she entered the competition to experience what writing a literary essay would be like as they were not exposed to literary essays in grade 9.
“I wanted to see how I would fare with higher grade English and I found it was enjoyable.”
She said her school's head of English informed her that she had placed in the top 12 and had been invited as a guest to the Grahamstown National Arts Festival and prize giving ceremony.
“The prize giving ceremony was held on June 28 where I found out that I was actually placed third in the country, which is really a big achievement.”
She added: “Last year, I also placed third nationally at the Foundation for English, Mathematics, Sciences, Sports and Innovation of South Africa (FEMSSISA) Olympiad. I was also made junior commissioner last year as part of a youth initiative by the South African Police Service.
“Through the initiative, they chose candidates from different schools to deliver speeches based on a chosen topic. The person who delivered the best speech, based on confidence and accuracy of information, was chosen to be junior commissioner.”
Saanvi said the subjects she enjoyed most were history and science and she was weighing her options on what to study after high school.
She enjoys playing volleyball and is on the school's debate team.
“In addition, I enjoy playing chess and robotics. I am also an avid reader. I think I get that from my mum as she is an English teacher."
Her mum, Veronica Domun, said: "We are exceptionally proud of Saanvi. She has always done well because she always commits herself to excellence and takes up every opportunity. When she entered the competition, we didn’t have high expectations as the competition is geared towards grade 10 to 12 learners, who are taught to write literary essays, but Saanvi did so well and we are proud of her.“
In Grahamstown, Saanvi won a diamond award, a cash prize and a one-year paid scholarship to Rhodes university.