News
Teachers Making a Big Difference in Education
National Teaching Awards Winners in KZN were
honured by the KZNDEC for their achievement. Winners Mrs Dudu Mncube
and Ms Gugu Mthembu with KZN Minister of Education and Culture,
Professor LBG Ndabandaba
KwaZulu-Natal produced two winners in this year's National
Teaching Awards. Mrs Dudu Mncube from Harding Farm School clinched
the second finalist title in the category: Excellence in Primary
School Teaching whilst Ms Gugu Mthembu from Nsalamanga Secondary
School won the second finalist title in the category: Excellence in
Secondary School Teaching.
Mrs Mncube is very involved with Read Projects and is responsible
for the development of learner support material for learners and
educators. She was nominated the best story teller in the region and
also won a Leader Teacher certificate from Read Project. She is a
library co-ordinator in Umvoti District.
She taught the community ways of planting vegetables and is
involved in various projects in HIV/AIDS in the community. She shows
dedication in her work which is evident in the following projects:
She has improved a small library for her school, has organised a
festival of books for the circuit and neighbouring schools.
Ms Gugu Mthembu started teaching in 1996 as an unqualified
teacher but provedherself capable of imparting Science skills to
learners. Since her arrival the Science results in her school
improved dramatically. This resulted in many learners taking the
Science stream. She was instrumental in achieving 100% pass rate for
her school in matric. Since 1999 her results were above the
provincial average. In 2000 the University of the Western Cape
awarded her a certificate of excellence in Science teaching. She
equips other teachers by organising workshops on Science teaching.
At an awards ceremony held in honour of the awardees, the National
Minister of Education, Professor Kader Asmal said "We hold up
these teachers and the schools they represent to the entire country
so that our people may witness our pride in them. These are men and
women of great determination, who have dedicated their lives to
serving our nation and our young people so that we may achieve our
vision of building a prosperous and caring society."
At the National Teaching Awards provincial
celebration held recently in Pietermaritzburg, the Minister of
Education and Culture, Professor LBG Ndabandaba paid tribute to the
Provincial winners and said "the history of great achievers of
the world tells a story of humble beginnings. It tells a story of
people who did not become satisfied that they were talented, but who
focused on a goal in a spirit that said ‘forward-ever; backward
never’. Ask any achiever in any field about the secret of success.
Virtually all will tell you of hard struggles
which demand perseverance and dedication to duty. All will tell you
that, what distinguished them from their contemporaries, was that
they jumped at opportunities, moved forward with purpose and never
allowed anything to distract their attention."
