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A Wits University graduate is not letting unemployment stop her from contributing positively to her community. Phumzile Mbele is offering classes for pupils in Orange Farm, south of Johannesburg, so that she can be a part of the solution when it comes to encouraging them to love and take up STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects.
“Growing up, I always wanted to see people thrive,” Mbele, a 26-year-old unemployed graduate, explained why she opted to teach afternoon classes for free to pupils who were struggling in her community.
Mbele said her passion to help people started back at Siviwe Primary School in Sebokeng Zone 13, where her own education began. As she cruised through school as an A-pupil, she always felt the need to help struggling classmates and began doing so.
While studying for her BSc degree, Mbele said a love for teaching kept calling her name and tugging at her heart. “During the years I spent in university, at first, I was happy that I was finally getting to fulfil a childhood dream, but strangely, I was unfulfilled because it wasn’t in line with what I loved. I finished my degree and then decided to venture into teaching.”
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Although graduating from Wits with a BSc degree was one of her biggest achievements, she felt the need to upskill in her quest to become a teacher. This was motivated by the fact that she didn’t want to feel unproductive while staying at home doing nothing because of many failed attempts at finding employment as a geologist. She enrolled for a PGCE (postgraduate certificate in education) at Wits University, and after another year of studying for her teaching certificate, she began to practise being a teacher. She started with the initiative to give back to the community, which would also allow her to better her skills as a future educator.
She considers herself a maths and science enthusiast, and her favourite pupils to teach are those who are doing grades 10 to 12 and need help to tackle the challenging subjects. Xolani Ndlovu (20) benefitted from Mbele's initiative after he took part in the afternoon classes during his matric year 2021. His initial goal was to get into medical school but couldn’t because of the sky-high requirements. This is what he has to say about being taught by Mbele:
“I started seeing the difference after joining the group because I realised that I needed a different technique in order to master the difficult questions,” said Ndlovu.
“I got 65% on my matric final exams and 72% in physics. I’m happy to let you know that I qualified to study for a BSc in chemical engineering at UJ, and I’m glad that I got admitted for my second choice (medical school was his first choice). I am also able to help my classmates with mathematics, which is one of our majors, all thanks to Phumi for not giving up on me.”
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Every project has its challenges and for Mbele, it includes dealing with pupils who do not grasp information at the same pace. “What I do is ensure that I change methods so that struggling pupils can also be accommodated.
