MQANDULI PRINCIPAL HOPES TO SPREAD HIS WINGS AFTER OBTAINING HIS MASTERS DEGREE

A high school principal born and bred in the rural town of Mqanduli in the former Transkei said he is ready to explore different opportunities and scale new heights after graduating with a Masters Degree in Education at WSUs Komani Campus recently.

Mfuneko Mabhamba (51), who hails from the tiny village of Mxambule Location and has been a principal at Mzolwandle Sandile Senior Secondary School for the past 13 years, said he hoped to use his newly-obtained degree to open new doors in the near future.

“I was very excited to obtain my degree as it opens ways to continue. It was not an easy journey in obtaining my degree as my supervisor had a lot on her plate and this caused many a delay in feedback and progress at each and every stage. But now I am very happy as I can be, “said Mabhamba.

It was through his Masters research paper, titled “Private supplementary tutoring and grade 12 Euclidean geometry performance: a study of selected secondary schools in OR Tambo Inland district in the Eastern Cape“ that the principal obtained his degree and inched ever- closer to his ultimate goal of securing a doctoral degree in education.

Mabhamba said though he enjoys teaching at high school level, dawning the famous WSU doctoral gown would represent a dream come true for him – an achievement that would see him leave high school for a much more lucrative and challenging career in tertiary education.

Elaborating on the merits of is research, he said the first objective of the investigation was to assess the association between learners' attendance at private tutoring sessions and their demographic characteristics such as gender and school location.

“The second research objective explored the mean scores of learners attending private tutoring compared to those who did not. The study employed a combination of comparative and correlational research designs, collecting data from a sample of 347 learners across four secondary schools, “ said Mabhamba. 

The research found significant associations between private tutorial attendance and school location, indicating that more learners from urban schools attended private tutorials compared to their rural counterparts.

The most significant revelation was that learners who attended private tutorials demonstrated significantly better performance in Euclidean Geometry compared to those who did not.

By Thando Cezula