Tsakani – Local school teacher and co-founder of African School for Excellence Nohlanhla Masina was crowned the winner of the sub-Saharan Africa region in the Cambridge International Schools Dedicated Teacher Awards recently.
Her dedication and hard work during the hard lockdown saw her being nominated in the regional awards.
She took the challenge to teach six classes in four subjects, namely mathematics, chemistry, physics and global perspective and research for Grades 11 and 12.
Also read: A dream come true for aspiring teacher
“We were unable to fill the positions. I then decided to step up and take over the classes because I had in the past facilitated them.
“I could not allow the learners, especially those in matric, to be left behind in their studies,” she explained.
Masina added as part of the programme, she instituted WhatsApp classes to be able to reach all the learners and ensured every learner received internet data and an external keyboard from the school.
Through all these sacrifices, the 2020 matric class achieved an 80 per cent pass rate with bachelor exemption.
The award automatically paves the way for Masina to compete in the global category, where she will take on winners from other regions to be crowned as the global winner.
Also read: Teachers to enjoy new desks
Masina holds an MSc (med) Pharmaceutics, BSc Honours in Biochemistry and Cell Biology and a BSc in Biological Sciences from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Her love for her community saw her fighting to open a high school in Tsakani in 2013.
She explained she identified that many first-year students in tertiary education from township schools lacked basic skills even to express themselves in English.
“I decided to dedicate myself to improving the state of education at township schools by offering free extra lessons.
“This motivated me to open the school, catering for my community,” she added.
She has been recognised as one of the Mail & Guardian’s top 200 young South African for her work in education.
Follow us on our social media platforms:
