Mr Khathutshelo Munasi Lecturer in the Department of Science and Technology Education, specializing in Environmental Education.

Who is Mr Munasi?

Mr. Khathutshelo Ronaldo Munasi is a young man who was born in the Tshitavha Sambandou village in Venda, then moved to Mubvumoni village to live with his mom. He started his primary school education at Mubvumoni Primary School but at the end of grade 3 he went back to Tshitavha to live with his dad. Khathutshelo started grade 4 and finished his primary education in Tshitavha. For secondary school he moved on to Tombolagole Secondary School, which is located at Tshitavha Sambandou village, where he matriculated in 2009.

In 2010, Khathutshelo began his tertiary studies when he enrolled in the University of Venda to study a Bachelor of Education in further education and training specializing in Mathematics and Life Sciences. He completed his degree in 2013 in record time. In February 2014 he started working as a secondary school teacher, teaching Life Sciences to grades 10 to 12 and Mathematics to grade 8 and 9.

In 2015, Khathutshelo decided to further his studies with the University of South Africa where he had applied for a Bachelor of Education honors with a specialization in Environmental Education. His concern about the untidy school environment he worked in was one of the reasons why he applied to upgrade his professional qualification. This educator was concerned with the extent of environmental disregard in schools and wanted to contribute to a solution. In 2017 he started his Master of Education in Environmental Education which he completed in 2019. He applied for the 2022 academic year, and he is currently doing the research proposal for his PhD in Environmental Education.

Did you always want to study a Bachelor of Education?

Khathutshelo  did not initially want to study a Bachelor of Education when he was growing up, however, he gained an interest in the field when he went to career guidance expos in grade 12. He saw it as an opportunity to help people grow through teaching and learning. Another reason is that in high school he became extremely interested in Life Sciences therefore he wanted to study a course that was related to Life Sciences. He realized that he was not strong enough in all sciences to be able to complete a Bachelor of Science in Life Sciences, hence he chose to do a Bachelor of Education specializing in Life Sciences. This made him more interested in being a teacher and his interest continued to grow as he was studying to become a Life Sciences teacher.

What is an accomplishment you are most proud of?

 He accomplished a lot of things as a Life Sciences teacher and one of the accomplishments he is most proud of is his contribution to the improvement of the matric results of the school he worked at in the years 2014 to 2018. An improvement from 50% to 80% pass during his time there, as well as an increase in the number of distinctions that the learners achieved during his teaching of them.

What behaviour or personality trait attributed to your success?

Khathutshelo believes that the behavior that contributed to his success at the school was a good relationship with students through being an accessible person. Someone who is approachable and open to talk to every student. Lastly someone who is innovative and willing to try different teaching methods to get results.