Prof Janet Condy, a senior academic in the Education Faculty, was recently appointed as Research Chair: Literacy Development Research Unit.

Condy says she is very excited about the appointment as it is an acknowledgement of the academic work she has done, mainly at CPUT.

“I am proud of it, and am eager to make a go of it,” says the Founder of the Literacy Association of South Africa. “[The research chair] is something that’s urgently needed in our education system.”

She wants to obtain permission from the Western Cape Education Department to work with officials and teachers in its districts. “I want to teach higher-order thinking and reading skills to teachers since their teaching is mainly focused on rote learning. This does not give learners opportunities to talk and think for themselves. The prescribed overloaded CAPS Curriculum does not allow time for these discussions and allow learners to draw on their prior lived experiences.”

She plans to train curriculum developers and run teacher-capacity building programmes at schools in the Western Cape just like she did in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zambia and Mauritius.

The key objective of the Research Chair is to investigate the educational and socio-economic context in which poor children learn within disadvantaged communities and to find possible reasons and solutions for the low scholastic performance, with a particular focus on literacy. The research project calls for deeper understanding of what schools do and what researchers can do to enhance the quality of schooling for poor children.

Ultimately, Condy intends to extend her philosophy of teaching across all faculties at CPUT targeting ECPs. “I want to form a community of practice of people who work with literacy at CPUT, everybody will be welcome.”

Written by Kwanele Butana
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Delegates at the annual Education Students Regional Research Conference didn’t steer away from tough topics this year.

The two-day conference which was held earlier this month at CPUT’s Education Faculty in Mowbray touched on sensitive issues such as corporal punishment, school administration challenges, home-schooling and multilingual teaching.

Guest speakers like Stellenbosch University’s Prof Yusef Waghid and UCT’s Dr Heather Jacklin, Prof Beverly Thaver of UWC and CPUT’s Prof Johan Anker and Prof Cornelis Vermeulen encouraged delegates to think out of the box.

In his address Prof Waghid urged participants to challenge themselves.

“If students and staff are willing to take more risks, what seems impossible can very well be achieved,” he said.

“We, as academics, should aim to build and not diminish, those that will continue to light the way for others.”

Now in its eleventh year, the conference brought together senior Education students and established academics from across the province to thrash a way forward for educators.

CPUT’s Education Faculty Dean, Professor Maureen Robinson, officially welcome the delegates, encouraging them to engage on constructive debates and sharing of ideas to make the most of the gathering.

Apart from students’ poster presentations, the delegates were able to participate in afternoon breakaway seminars which centred on themes of Special Education, Language and Literacy in schools, Education Studies, Maths and Science Education and Higher Education studies.

By: Thando J. Moiloa

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CPUT’s Education Faculty is daring to go where few other Universities of Technology go, by being part of a specialised research programme looking at Foundation Phase teaching methods.

The research programme places emphasis on mathematics and languages, as well as its distinctive focus on teaching in African languages, for Foundation Phase (FP) teaching, which focuses on learners between Grades R to three and gives students an opportunity to excel because they are taught in their home language.

The much-needed programme, which was lauched this year, will run for three years and enjoys the support of the European Union, the Department of Higher Education and Training and the Department of Basic Education.

Education lecturer and researcher Nici Rousseau says the two main objectives is to increase the number of graduates who specialise as FP teachers, particularly African language teachers, and to increase the number of public universities that offer similar programmes.

“The project gives us as academics an opportunity to polish up the grey areas of FP teaching, thereby giving learners a fair chance at understanding what they are taught”, says Rousseau.

Rousseau says FP teaching is well on its way to becoming an attractive career choice for matriculants through the bursary programme, which forms part of the EU supported project, targeting around 200 high-achieving African language school leavers.

Dean Prof Maureen Robinson says the FP programme is the jewel in the CPUT Education Faculty’s crown.

“CPUT is positioned at the forefront of Foundation Phase teaching, as it is the only University of Technology with a stand-alone project for this niche,” she says.

“This national project not only promotes the work that we are doing with our students and researchers, but it gives the FP educators a voice and necessary visibility to address the daily challenges in the classroom ”.

By: Thando J. Moiloa

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Thanks to the Education Faculty students across South Africa will have access to recorded teacher training material.

This initiative is part of the Strengthening Foundation Phase Project funded by the European Union and the Department of Higher Education and Training.

Video recordings were made of Grade R and One lessons which were presented by CPUT students at different schools in the Western Cape. The lessons focused on language and mathematics.

The videos will be distributed with support guides to all universities in South Africa that offer teacher training programmes.

Senior lecturer in the Foundation Phase Department, Nici Rousseau, who coordinated the project, says the teacher training material can be used at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

“We hope that these videos with the support guides will become invaluable didactic tools, which will above all invite meaningful discussions between students and their lecturers on the many aspects that influence learning and teaching,” says Rousseau.

Written by Kwanele Butana

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It’s a sad fact that more money is spent on upgrading rugby fields at urban schools than is spent on all the educational needs of most children in rural areas. This neglect of South Africa’s rural poor has prompted CPUT’s Education Faculty and African stationery giant Waltons to join forces. While this budding partnership is still in its infancy, it has already resulted in every child in two of the poorest schools in the province receiving all the stationery they need to make learning possible and fun.

Director of Waltons, Elizabeth Arulappen, says as the largest stationery supplier on the continent, Waltons is fully aware of the importance of education for the future good of South Africa. Speaking to the excited children at Nondzame Primary in Pniel and Bergrivier Primary in Wellington, Arupallen said, “We are a wonderful and generous nation, of many different cultures and beliefs, but we all agree on one thing. That is the importance of a good education for all people."

Each child received a “toolbox” of stationery worth R300, packed with all the essential goods such as staplers, scissors, pencils, and crayons that most schoolchildren take for granted.

Professor and Head of Department of Research in the Faculty of Education, Rajendra Chetty, was delighted that Waltons had given of their resources so willingly. “Poor rural children in every province across South Africa are being marginalised, said Chetty. “It’s about poverty, not politics. If you’re poor, you don’t have a voice, and if you don’t have a voice, you’re easy to marginalise. It’s our assertion that the state is abdicating their responsibility and failing to protect the right to a primary education for children living in rural areas.”

The success of this year’s alliance with Waltons has fired up the Education Faculty to expand their collaboration. Plans are now afoot to partner with Waltons to provide 10 of the provinces' poorest schools with their stationery needs next year. But, says Chetty, the state must still be mindful of their duty to all South Africa’s learners. “Some of these children attend schools without electricity, drinking water, sanitation, suitable buildings or adequate learning materials. While we have policies that recognise education for all and are aimed at addressing the needs of the poorest schools in South Africa, a great deal remains to be done.”

by Jan Weintrob

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The Mowbray Campus recently unveiled an exhibition of the history of teacher training colleges in education in the Western Cape. The exhibition was a timeline of teacher training colleges that dated back to the early 1800’s.

In honour of these training colleges Prof Maureen Robinson, Dean of the Education Faculty and Mr John Lewin, a former lecturer at the Faculty of Education, Johannesburg College of Education and English teacher participated in the unveiling of the exhibition.

Mr John Lewin presented the exhibition to members of staff and guests. “The exhibition was an attempt to signify the three R’s - Remembering, Recognising the contribution of those teachers and Recording the past,” said Mr Lewin.

The exhibition consisted of photos and pictures that portrayed teacher education in that era. It demonstrated the role of different themes such as churches during the teacher training college period. The exhibition displayed origins and closures of teacher training colleges, and how the laws of the country viewed it.

“So little was recorded on teacher training colleges. We appeal to the public who may have anything appropriate in their possession, to contribute to the cause,“ said Mr John Lewin. “Mr Lewin captured more than just a chronology of teacher’s colleges but a deeper connectedness that they had with people.

Each time a college closed there were emotional involvements. Where would we be if colleges were not sabotaged? Teachers now have an unclear identity”, said Dr John Volmink, Principal and CEO of the Cornerstone Christian College who rendered the key-note address.

Professor Robinson is compiling a publication that will remind teachers of their humility and honour the lives of teachers during the era of the teacher training colleges.

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A senior academic in the Education Faculty is the lead researcher for a national project on inclusive education titled Teaching for All.

Dr Cina Mosito, Head of Department: Intermediate Phase Department, says the project is premised on the belief that all children have the ability to learn, have the right to quality education and that every child matters and matters equally. The project is funded by the European Union.

“We have used our grant to host workshops for teachers that mentor our students during Teaching Practice and produce video-taped lessons that support curriculum and learning materials.”

She was selected as one of the three women at CPUT who will be taking part in a Higher Education Leadership and Management programme called Women in Leadership (WIL). The programme aims to create and sustain a pipeline and pool of women leaders and managers for South African higher education and promote their advancement.

“A number of interesting events have been planned as part of this programme.  I am grateful to the institution and look forward to participating in this exciting venture.”

Mosito adds that over the last 15 years at CPUT she has grown as an academic from the research she does with her students. She draws her motivation from knowing that the kind of work she does influences futures.

“From this I am motivated to ask if I would be content to be at the receiving end of everything I do. If the answer is no, then that pushes me to do better.”

She praises her dedicated and hardworking colleagues who are passionate about teacher education and says they care about their students and education in this country. “Their passion and dedication fuel me to face each day of work with renewed energy.”

She adds that students humble her and that it is heart-warming to know that there are young people who are committed to effecting social justice despite many challenges that teachers face in schools.  “Many of my students are determined to acquire university education despite many challenges that they face in their personal and academic lives.”

She wants young women to know that women are highly capable of achieving anything and should learn to silence internal noises that often cast doubt on their capabilities. “Where mistakes have been made, valuable lessons should be gathered and we should not judge ourselves harshly. We should set an example of how we want to be treated which is a very important attribute of Ubuntu/Botho.”

Mosito adds that this process starts with being truly supportive of other women and avoiding negativity and toxicity that could harm their progress.

*For the duration of Women’s Month, we will be profiling several high profile CPUT women whose achievements and activities help us to become One SMART CPUT.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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Following the success of his debut book which was published earlier this year, an academic in the Education Faculty has penned another book.

Dr Oscar Koopman has just recently returned from a six months-sabbatical leave during which he completed his new book, 'Science Education and Pedagogy in South Africa'.

Published by Peter Lang in New York, USA, the book is currently in production and will be released next month.

The multidimensional book explores new teaching methods and looks at various aspects of science teaching and learning.

“I am very honoured to have published with Peter Lang and be reviewed by William Pinar, who is often described as one of the greatest curriculum scholars in the world,” says Koopman.

“Publishing with Peter is not easy because he’s a world class publisher for top academics in the world.”

The book addresses various issues related to the teaching and learning of Physical Science in South Africa, but more specifically its main focus is on how to improve the quality of teaching and learning of science in a multi-cultural context, given the decry for a decolonised curriculum in South Africa.  

“I argue that before we tackle the problem of decolonising the curriculum we first have to obtain empirical evidence of how the psyche of teachers were affected by the legacy of apartheid education.”

This is a solo project with a contribution (one chapter) by CPUT alumnus ,Paul Iwuanyanwu, who recently completed his PhD at the University of the Western Cape.

The book is available online on amazon.com, takealot.com and other stores.

Koopman is also working on another book which will be released early next year.

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Academics from the Education Faculty have written an isiXhosa book to assist teachers with trilingual classrooms.

Published by Future Managers, the book is called “Xhosa for Teachers” and is also available in Afrikaans. It is a beginners’ book for adults learning isiXhosa, with an emphasis on the language needs of teachers who have Xhosa learners in their class.

Principal author Dr André Steenkamp says trilingual classes in the Western Cape are becoming more prevalent.

“Afrikaans and English-speaking student teachers need to be prepared to teach in classrooms that are becoming more and more trilingual,” he says.

The book provides examples of conversations from a wide variety of communication settings but focuses on the school and the classroom environment.

It is partly based on his earlier book called “Practical Xhosa”.

For the new book he teamed up with fellow lecturers Sanet Cox and Xolani Mavela.

TEAM: Xolani Mavela and Sanet Cox.

Cox, who originally trained as a primary school teacher, has a lot of insight into the communication needs of English/Afrikaans- speaking teachers who also have Xhosa learners in their classes.

Mavela helped the team with notes on the culture of the amaXhosa and provided many examples of interesting words and idiomatic expressions.

“I am very proud of the product the three of us have produced. I think our collaboration worked well and I hope that we will be able to write more books in the near future,” says Steenkamp.

The book is available in bookstores and from Future Managers (www.futuremanagers.com).

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“If you keep your head up, look at the horizon and not down at the pothole, you’ll achieve your success,” says CPUT alumnus, Dr Marthinus Jordaan.

Jordaan was the guest speaker at this afternoon’s graduation ceremony of the Education Faculty where certificates, diplomas and degrees were conferred on hundreds of graduates.

Jordaan, who runs his own three-star rated guest house, shared his moving academic history which spanned over five decades.

His story illustrated how zeal and endurance paid off against all odds. “While in Grade 6 we were told that we would never make it to matric,” he intimated.

He added that after passing Grade 11 a teacher advised him to repeat the grade as he would not pass Grade 12.

He said that it was during the second year in Grade 11 when he started enjoying school more and looked forward to furthering his studies.

After matric he spent two years in the defence force before enrolling for his first post-matric qualification.

He obtained his PhD from the Central University of Technology and his doctoral thesis looked at genealogy, heritage and tourism.

He has published eight books and is now busy writing three.

He wished the graduates well in their individual careers and urged them not to fail their potential.

Virnen Ludick was awarded the Dean’s Medal for his exceptional academic achievements.

News of CPUT’s extraordinary alumni can be found in our Grad Mag 2016.

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Dr Zayd Waghid (36), a senior lecturer in the Education Faculty, was recently promoted to the position of Associate Professor and became the youngest academic to bear the title in his faculty.

“My promotion to Associate Professor in less than seven years is a major turning point in my academic career. However, I don't think anybody should be too relaxed about things” said Waghid. “Thanks to the flexibility of my current position and support from my Head of Department, I've been able to significantly improve my research output, with seven publications in 2022 alone.”

Waghid began his career in higher education as a lecturer in 2015, transitioning from a career as a school teacher. “My 6.5 years of teaching experience helped prepare me for my current position,” he observed.

He added that despite the widespread protests that produced a lot of anxiety that year, he concentrated heavily on his teaching while still focusing on research.”

“After my first year of academia, I had a conversation with a professor and, when asked how many research outputs I produced, I said that I had mostly submitted approximately two papers to local journals,” recalled Waghid. “After that discussion I realised then that, although teaching has traditionally been the university's primary purpose, I wanted to find more efficient methods to boost my research output.”

He added that as he began to write more journal articles, book chapters, and his first co-authored book in 2016, he crafted a curriculum that would include a service-learning project. “This I believe was necessary in laying the foundation for me to focus on all three spheres in higher education, i.e. teaching, learning, research and innovation and community engagement.”

After receiving recognition for his research productivity, teaching excellence awards at the university level and registered a service-learning project he was promoted to the position of senior lecturer in 2018. “But I've always had this sense that I should not feel complacent” he said. “I collaborated on writing projects with people from various universities, both in South Africa and abroad and submitted applications for several National Research Foundation projects.”  

His latest entry into the Conversation Africa, an independent source of news and views from the academic and research community,where he further discusses research on his teaching can be viewed on https://theconversation.com/decolonising-education-in-south-africa-a-reflection-on-a-learning-teaching-approach-192190

His advice to young academics just beginning off in higher education: “Create a team of researchers to collaborate on journal publications, and put in time writing both group articles and single authored papers. Every morning except if you have an 8:00am class, start working on your research at 5:00am and don't stop until 10:00,” he continued. “Use this time wisely by focusing only on your research. Create an annual research plan and discuss it with your department head for approval. CPUT has a plethora of opportunities and use these wisely. Be selective about your research without overextending yourself. Do what makes you happy and the rest will follow.”

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In the centre of Wellington is the picturesque CPUT Wellington Campus with beautiful historic buildings which were built in the 1800s.

The campus offers courses such as Agriculture in the Faculty of Applied Sciences and a range of courses in the Faculties of Business and Management Sciences as well as Education. This campus is the only site where CPUT offers Education courses in Afrikaans.

The Education Faculty is renowned for its excellent curriculum and high training standards and was awarded the Medal of Honour by the South African Teachers Union in recognition of its superb training of teachers to the benefit of the Afrikaans speaking community.

The faculty has the largest presence on the campus, with more than 1 000 Bachelor of Education students who are enrolled.

The Department of Agriculture, which offers a qualification in Viticulture and Oenology, affords students access to an experimental wine cellar and to a state-of-the-art Agriculture Facility called the Agri-Hub which boasts modern lecture rooms, conference facilities, laboratories and greenhouses..

The vibrant student community on the Wellington Campus also participates in a range of sporting activities as well as community engagement programmes, that vary from tutoring learners at rural schools to facilitating sport and art programmes in impoverished communities in the Boland region.

The dedicated staff members and a distinctive style of training ensures that the campus remains one of the most popular choices for students who want to pursue careers in teaching, agriculture and business.

For a map of the campus please visit

https://www.cput.ac.za/files/images_folder/about_institution/Wellington%20Campus%20map.JPG

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Life owes you nothing is the mantra by which Honorary Doctorate in Education recipient Marlene Le Roux lives her life. Her capping took place this morning during the Education Faculty graduation ceremony and cheering her on from the front row was a very special guest Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Le Roux was honoured for her contribution to the performing arts, education and social transformation in South Africa. She is the Chief Executive Officer of the Artscape Theatre Centre and the first woman and black person to fill this role since its inception in 1971.

Le Roux told the excited graduates that she was pleased to be honoured by CPUT because the education offered at the university was relevant and important.

“I stand here today to receive this honour from a university that focuses on vocational skills and technical training, innovative problem-solving and career directed courses with communities as end users- the kind of graduates sorely needed in our country. The doers, the engineers, the artisans, the teachers- produced right here!” 

Le Roux dedicated her honour to all persons living with disabilities, especially young rural girls.

“I count myself fortunate enough to be one of the few with a disability who is gainfully employed. The motto with which I live my life is ‘Life owes you nothing’. Your attitude in life will determine how people will perceive you. Share with others your wealth and life will become simple and manageable,” she advised.

Written by Lauren Kansley
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Liaises with the media and writes press releases about interesting developments at CPUT.

A seasoned academic in the Education Faculty will be delivering her inaugural Professorial Lecture at the Bellville Campus on Monday.

This follows Prof Janet Condy’s promotion to full professorship in 2018. Condy has graduated three Doctoral students and eight Masters. She has 23 articles published in accredited journals and peer-reviewed conference proceedings as well as six chapters in books.

She is currently supervising nine Masters’ students and one Doctoral candidate. The C2 National Research Foundation-rated researcher has examined 25 Masters and three Doctoral studies.

“This is the pinnacle of an academic’s career, and cause for celebration and reflection on the work that has brought me to this position, but it also represents the beginning of yet further and higher intellectual achievements,” she says.

During her speech, she will speak about three influences that changed the trajectory of her career; being introduced to the International Literacy Association, developing a love for the teaching of reading and beginning her research journey. To contextualise the issue of literacy today, Condy will share the dire results of the 2016 international PIRLS literacy tests and the 2018 Western Cape Education Departments Systemic tests.

She concludes by positing that literacy instruction needs an urgent transformation to become an enabler of other sustainable development goals and the long-term driver of social, economic and environmental justice.

Condy obtained her PhD in Education from the University of Cape Town in 2006 after her Masters of Science Degree from Wheelock College in Boston, USA, in 1992.

Written by Kwanele Butana

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The Education Faculty’s Prof Janet Condy is calling for a new curriculum which provides deep, life-worthy learning that is purposeful and of a higher level of complexity.

Condy made the call when she delivered her Inaugural Professorial Lecture on Literacy Issues at the Bellville Campus on Monday evening. “Our CAPS curriculum needs content pruning to foreground the relevant 21st-century competencies: critical thinking and problem-solving, creativity and innovation, collaboration and teamwork, communication and informational literacy in technologically driven learner-centred teaching and learning that is purposeful,” said Condy.

After teaching in mainstream and special schools for 19 years, she won an Ambassadorial Rotary Scholarship and spent a year in Boston, America, studying ‘reading’.

She adds that three major influences emerged from this experience. “Firstly, I was introduced to the International Literacy Association; secondly, I developed a love for the teaching of reading; and thirdly, this love of teaching reading became juxtaposed with a love of research.”

The C2 NRF-rated researcher also discussed the role of the teacher, current debates around the provision of education in South Africa, the impact of poverty and illiteracy as well as the teaching of comprehension.Prof Sarah Howie, Director: Africa Centre for Scholarship at Stellenbosch University, responded to Condy’s lecture and highlighted some critical issues which had emerged from it.

Howie said Condy’s story of scholarship serves as an inspiration to aspiring scholars and described her as a reflective practitioner, change agent and empowerer, pioneer, realist, analyst and activist.

She said Condy’s work triggers questions pertaining to the relationship between the intended curriculum (what the society wants learners to learn), the implemented curriculum (what the teachers teach in the classroom) and the attained curriculum.

Vice-Chancellor, Prof Chris Nhlapo, said Condy’s students are engaging each other as equals. Nhlapo thanked her for her contribution towards the development of the nation’s youth and praised her for always being a CPUT champion.

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The Education Faculty celebrated Human Rights Day with the launch of a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered (LGBT) group. 

Established by Mowbray Local SRC Deputy Chairperson, Abdul Brown, and Intermediate Phase Teaching Practice lecturer, Clive Brown, the CPUT Rainbow Group was launched on the Mowbray Campus recently to create an open and safe space to discuss the injustices perpetrated against LGBT individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation.

The Group’s vision is to educate the CPUT community about the discrimination and social exclusion suffered by members who come from the LGBT community as well as foster community engagement and empowerment programmes with the general public to eradicate the stigma of homophobia.

To achieve these goals the Group will, among other things, aim to broaden the perspectives of pre-service teachers when dealing with LGBT learners in South African classrooms.

Clive added that they launched the Group as a forum to collaborate with the Red Ribbon Foundation because when he started as a CPUT student 16 years ago there was no such forum to encourage meetings between people of diverse backgrounds.

Abdul said he was 15 when he came out as gay to his mother and that he was subsequently bullied by other boys at his high school.
“I won’t tolerate any injustice perpetrated against anyone on campus on the basis of their sexual orientation,” he vowed.

Guest speaker at the launch Dorian Basson, Founder of the Red Ribbon Foundation, said that while the eight-year-old foundation was founded to give a voice to HIV patients, these days it also renders services to clients who are battling with sexual orientation and poverty.

Basson encouraged members of the Rainbow Group to use the group to empower themselves.

“Utilise the services of the Red Ribbon Foundation,” he said.

Written by Kwanele Butana

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Born in Stutterheim, Eastern Cape, and a proud product of the local Jongile Nompondo High School, Dr Xolani Mavela’s passion for the isiXhosa language is deeply ingrained by his cultural identity and political convictions.

Mavela, a lecturer in the Education Faculty, recently graduated with a doctoral degree at Rhodes University, but what makes his PhD thesis more exciting is that it was entirely written in isiXhosa.

Mavela’s thesis, Uphando-nzulu lweeMpendulo eziBhaliweyo zaBafundi bamaBanga aPhezulu eMfundo kuNcwadi lwesiXhosa, investigated the causes of poor performance in written responses on isiXhosa literature assessments by FET Home Language and First Additional Language students.

The researcher used a mixed-method approach to gather his data and also provided measures to improve learner performance in isiXhosa literature assessments in both isiXhosa Home Language and First Additional Language levels.

He was at high school when he decided to pursue a career in isiXhosa, and that became a reality when he enrolled towards a BA degree with isiXhosa as one of the majors at UWC in 1993. He would later obtain the Higher Diploma in Education there after completing his degree.

Mavela then completed both his Honours and Masters degrees at Stellenbosch University. He says that while he used English for his Masters dissertation, in which he analysed Human Rights texts such as minutes of parliamentary meetings, he also used isiXhosa examples to illustrate his points.

He adds that his PhD dissertation brought a tool to teach isiXhosa literature, it suggested that literature be digitised to make it appeal to the current tech savvy generation.

To this end, he is collaborating with teachers at Westerford High School in a project that has seen the audio-visual recording of the school’s prescribed set book, Sakohlulwa zindudumo (drama by Isaac Tau).

“Half the book has been recorded and the teacher has noticed a remarkable improvement in the learners’ academic performance since they started viewing the recordings,” says the columnist for Isolezwe lesiXhosa newspaper.

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The learners of Hangklip Primary may not realise how privileged they are after this Dean’s Medallist chose to return to her old school in Queenstown to teach.

Marche Jordaan was the top achieving student in the Education Faculty. She received the coveted Dean’s medal during the Education graduation on Friday morning for her consistent average of 85% during her studies.

With a national shortage of Mathematics, Technology and Science teachers, Jordaan could have had the pick of positions to choose from after graduation, however she says she was motivated to return home and give back.

“Teaching at my old school is a huge privilege because I always wanted to give back to the community, and I feel like this is a good way of doing that,” she says.

“I believe that is how I can make the biggest difference in children’s lives, and I know that not everyone is as advantaged as I was, so I would like to be there for those learners whose parents are perhaps not fortunate enough to be able to assist them as much as they need.”

Jordaan says her recipe for academic success was never missing an on-campus class, no matter how insignificant the lesson may have seemed.

“I also completed my assignments to the best of my ability, asked for help and learned from others.”

Written by Lauren Kansley

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Liaises with the media and writes press releases about interesting developments at CPUT.