Teacher’s efforts win her award
A MTHATHA teacher’s dedication and effective teaching methods have earned her the English at Once award for English teacher of the year.
Mercy Nwafor Egbeyah, who teaches English Home Language to pupils from Grades 10 to 12 at Umtata Christian School, will travel to Franschhoek in May to attend the Literary Festival there as part of her prize.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch, Egbeyah said because her colleagues had nominated her for the prize, she accepted the win as recognition of her efforts in the classroom.
“I cannot really pinpoint what they saw in me but I think it’s because I have always gone the extra mile with my pupils, but I am really just doing my job,” said Egbeyah.
English at Once is a website that develops English language worksheets based on current issues for subscribing schools on a weekly basis.
Founder and developer of English at Once, Barbara Hathorn said the site had been running for four years but decided this year to introduce the award for the teacher who instilled a passion and love for English in their pupils, despite teaching in adverse circumstances. English at Once will be paying for her travel and accommodation for the weekend, while the Franschhoek Literary Festival is providing a number of free tickets to attend events of her choice.
Egbeyah said she hoped the award would make her pupils appreciate her teaching methods.
“This will validate me in the classroom, they will start to understand why I am always so hard on them and why I always push them,” said Egbeyah, adding that seeing her pupils enthusiastic and willing to learn and succeed (given their circumstances) made being a teacher worthwhile.
Egbeyah’s commitment to her pupils was highlighted by the teacher who nominated her for the award, Simone Spyker, from the Advance for Life Christian Academy in East London.
Spyker said: “Mercy was so committed to her matrics she gave up part of her maternity leave last year to get them ready for their finals.
“She cares deeply for each of her pupils and was terribly saddened by the recent murder of one of her Grade 12s in Umtata.” —