Dr Lettah Sikhosana, lecturer in the Department of Science and Technology Education specialising in Education for sustainable development

Background

Dr Lettah Sikhosana is a 28 year old from Kwaggafontein C, formerly known as KwaNdebele, in Mpumalanga province. She attended school at Thubelihle Primary School up to Grade 7. She then completed Grades 8 and 9 at the Sozilani Combined School. She matriculated at Mkhephuli Secondary School in 2012. Although from humble beginnings, she received endless support from her parents and siblings on her academic journey.  

Post matric, she applied and registered at Unisa, where she always wanted to pursue her studies. Being interested in the comprehensive open distance e-learning (CODeL) institution despite criticism, in Grade 9, she started collecting Unisa brochures and attending career expos at her community hall in Kwaggafontein. She realised that she had a passion for teaching, and that is when she started shadowing one of her Grade 9 class teachers. She was a very inquisitive learner, and she would ask to assist her teachers with the classroom administrative tasks, such as marking the attendance register.

Being an undergraduate student at Unisa

In 2013, when the matric results were released, she received admission to numerous universities in South Africa. She faced a difficult decision due to the views and perceptions of society about those universities. She therefore had to choose between society’s advice and following her dreams of pursuing her studies at a CODeL institution, which in this context was Unisa. She followed her vision and registered for a Bachelor of Education in Senior and Further Education and Training Phases.

With her mother being a domestic worker and her father a truck driver at that time, they had to request advances of their wages where they worked to pay the minimum registration fee, which was about R3 000,00 as she had no funding as a first-year student. Dr Sikhosana mentioned that her parents sacrificed a lot in order to provide financial assistance and support towards her studies. She moved away from home and stayed with her mother in a backroom in Centurion, where the latter used to work as a domestic worker. She adds: “I appreciate my mother’s employers for welcoming me with open arms in their home”.

To ensure that she could attend the Sunnyside or Muckleneuk campus daily, she would work as a domestic worker on weekends where her mother was employed and get paid an amount of R200, which she used for transportation. Despite Unisa being a CODeL institution, she travelled to campus daily to ensure that she was at the library pursuing her studies, engaging with other students and using the available library resources for extra support.

Later in 2013, she met Mr Steven Shabangu, Coordinator of the College of Education, who guided her through the Unisa student system (myUnisa), provided support and motivated her to keep up the good grades and aim to obtain her degree cum laude. He also informed her about different funding opportunities that she could apply for in the following academic year, since her parents managed to cover the first-year fees with wage advances and loans.

When bursary applications opened, she wanted to make sure that she was the first one at the internet café to apply for funding. She arrived there at 07:00. As soon as the internet café opened, she completed and submitted her online bursary application. She was shocked when she received a letter of acknowledgement as she had never received any correspondence when she was in matric.  

During the registration period in January 2014, upon receiving a “registration finalised” SMS, she became aware that her study fees were fully paid up. To ensure that she was not dreaming, she went to Sunnyside Campus for confirmation, where she was informed that she had been awarded both the Funza Lushaka and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) bursary. She accepted the Funza Lushaka Bursary, which was a comprehensive bursary that covered her study fees, transportation, food allowance, textbook allowance and accommodation. Her parents were the first to find out and they were both ecstatic and relieved.  

Embarking on the postgraduate journey

In 2016 she completed her Bachelor of Education in Senior and Further Education and Training Phases cum laude. However, finding employment as a teacher was quite a challenge that affected her mental health. She then registered for the Honours Bachelor of Education in Environmental Education and was awarded a Unisa Honours Bursary in 2017. She also received a Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Performance in Academic Studies from the Mpumalanga Department of Education. Later that year, she managed to get employed as a Grade 10 to 12 Teacher at Buhlebesizwe Secondary School in Vlaklaagte-Aa, Mpumalanga.

Upon completion of the honours qualification in record time in 2017, she immediately registered for a Master of Education in Environmental Education in 2018 and applied for Unisa’s master’s and doctoral bursary, which was awarded in 2019. However, having to balance being a Grade 10 to 12 teacher and a student at the same time was quite a difficult task for Dr Sikhosana. Nevertheless, her supervisors, Prof Awelani V Mudau and Prof Sikhulile B Msezane, offered her all the support she needed, from how to write a good research proposal to writing a good dissertation and publishing research articles emanating from the dissertation research. She then completed her Master of Education in Environmental Education in 2019.

PhD Journey

At first, Dr Sikhosana did not want to further her studies up to PhD level due to self-doubt, preconceived ideas, negative criticism, and the fact that one’s research title needed to be filled with words that one cannot even pronounce. However, “little did I know that was not the case”. Her master’s supervisors encouraged her to apply and register for a Doctor of Philosophy in Education, specialising in Environmental Education (PhD), so that she could immerse herself and be a specialist in environmental education. Having nothing to lose but everything to gain, in March 2020 she registered for a PhD and applied for a Unisa doctoral bursary, which was awarded in 2021. Receiving such funding contributed positively to her studies.

In her PhD research, Dr Sikhosana developed and implemented the sustainable intervention strategy for solid waste management through partnership (SISS-WMP) in schools situated in the Nkangala district of Mpumalanga province. She indicated that her PhD journey was not easy and took a toll on her mental health. She needed to remain focused, disciplined, self-motivated, dedicated, investing time and enjoying the research at the same.  

However, support from family and friends and remembering the sacrifices that her parents had made during her undergraduate studies, kept her motivated. Most importantly, with the consistent support and guidance she received from Prof Awelani V Mudau and the participants from the schools where her PhD research was conducted, in 2022 she was able to complete her PhD in a record time of two years and at the age of 27. Dr Lettah Sikhosana is now a lecturer and the Chair for Research and Innovation, Postgraduate Degrees and Commercialisation in the Department of Science and Technology Education, College of Education at the University of South Africa.