Ms Grace Neluvhola, principal of Tshiawelo High at Vleifontein, has proved that hard work pays.

She ended third in the national teachers awards for secondary school leadership that was held in Midrand a fortnight ago.

She completed her senior teaching diploma from Tivumbeni College of Education in 1970 and started her teaching career the next year at Tlangelani Primary in the Malamule area. From 1978 to 1982, she was at Sinthumule High and from 1983 she joined Tshiawelo High.

"While working at Sinthumule, I enrolled at the University of the South Africa where I obtained my BA degree and a master's degree. Currently, I am studying towards my doctorate,” she added.

“When I was appointed as school principal, my vision was to overhaul the school entirely.The school was considered to be dysfunctional at that time, but today we can boast a matric pass rate of 97,5%,” she proudly mentioned.

Neluvhola said that at the beginning of each year they do a post-mortem of matric results and  concentrate on an improvement strategy. According to her, the turn-around at the school started with instilling a sense of discipline amongst the pupils and the staff and “the results speak for themselves”.

Neluvhola said that parental involvement has also increased since her arrival at the school.

During the presentation of the awards, the Minister of Basic Education, Ms Angie Motshekga, said the awards were meant to encourage educators to work hard for the purpose of improving education in South Africa. “We have seen positive results since we started the idea of the award ceremony some years ago. This creates a spirit of hard work and helps to improve results in our country,” she said.

Two other educators from Vhembe ended in fourth position. Ms Patricia Ramango of Magovhani ended in fourth position in primary school leadership, while Mr Ronald Mufamadi of Tshilidzini Special School ended in position four in the Special Needs category.