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Sanelisiwe Nqeketo (28) obtained her first matric certificate in 2012 which only allowed her entry to a higher certificate qualification.
Ten years later, her deferred dream to one day be a teacher led the married mother of two, from Ngqeleni, to go back to school on a full-time basis in her quest to improve her matric results, for a bachelor’s degree entry.
Not only did she achieve the feat, but she outdid herself by scoring four distinctions in English, isiXhosa, History and Life Orientation – but most importantly scored her the bachelor pass she craved.
“The decision to go back to school came after I lost my merchandising job of two years in 2021. It has always been my dream to study towards a teaching qualification, but my 2012 matric certificate did not allow that.”
“When I lost my job, I immediately decided that it was time to go back to school to improve my results and study towards a teaching qualification, as teaching is something that I am passionate about,” she said.
Currently, Nqeketo says, she is awaiting the outcome of her applications with various universities to pursue her teaching qualification.
Nqeketo says her achievement was not an easy journey, especially for a married woman and mother of two young children, but one that was worth the sacrifices.
“Going back to school meant time away from my children, missing some important family gatherings and my marriage taking a bit of strain, because my husband also works in Mpumalanga and sometimes he would be back home and I was at school which meant not spending time together,” said Nqeketo.
She joked that fellow students referred to her as “aunt” in class due to her age, but she says that it never deterred her as it was a sign of respect rather than making fun of her.
Nqeketo was pursuing her second matric at Mazizini Senior Secondary School in Dutywa, while her
2012 matric was at Upper Corana Senior Secondary School in Libode.
