Perseverance pays off for PhD graduate
IF PERSEVERANCE was a person, UWC PhD in Education: Language and Literacy graduate, Mervyn Coetzee, would be it.
Coetzee, from Bonteheuwel, will be capped today and standing close by will be his 80-year old mother, Joan.
His graduation will be a “celebration of the Coetzee family and their resilience”. Mervyn said his mother, who turns 81 in July, raised him and his five siblings alone in the gangster-ridden suburb of Bonteheuwel after their father died in 1974.
Coetzee recalls standing outside the local fish shop in the hope of being given a few “kaiings” (clumps of batter) at the end of the day, which he would share with the family as supper. If they were lucky, there would be a few pieces of fish attached.
Besides his challenging circumstances, Coetzee also had to deal with having been born with two thumbs on each hand – he had to endure teasing from his peers who called him derogatory names.
When Coetzee failed his mid-year exams in Grade 10, he wanted to drop out of school. But his older brother intervened, saying one of the family had to complete matric. Coetzee managed to complete school in 1984.
While working shifts at the pool, law enforcement officers encouraged him to become a beach constable. Four years later, a girlfriend encouraged him to apply to study at UWC. His application was rejected, but he accompanied her to registration. “This is where the story changed,” he said. A chance encounter with a peer facilitator, Niel van den Heever from Namaqualand, created an opportunity for further education at UWC. But first, Coetzee had to secure the funding.
After several unsuccessful attempts, Coetzee approached the Department of Education, then in Roeland Street. Applicants usually have to apply at least 10 months in advance, but a serendipitous meeting with an inspector there encouraged him to “go do something with your life”. Coetzee spent the 1990s at CPUT, UWC and UCT as tutor, writing consultant and lecturer. He was one of the lecturers teaching in UWC’s first BEd Foundation Phase degree. He is now an academic review specialist in UWC’s Academic Planning Unit.