LESETJA MALOPE
Ms Grace Maine, Manager of the Department of Education’s Pietersburg Circuit is about to end a much loved career of more than 30 years.
Maine, credited with making the circuit a powerhouse in the province in terms of matric results, has officially resigned from the department to pursue other interests but not before offering Polokwane Observer an opportunity to get insight into her world as a celebrated administrator.
Maine was born into a family of three siblings in Tzaneen. Though her parents had admired jobs, her father being a teacher and her mother a nurse, she wanted to follow a career in journalism but was discouraged by the risks and political hostilities of the time.
"I played my role as the eldest child at home and received support from my brothers," she described her upbringing.
Growing up she attended seven schools at primary level alone and all the time participated actively in athletics.
Like many other young adults at the time, she went on to become a History and Afrikaans teacher, starting her 35-year long relationship with education at Shingwedzi High School in 1977.
After two stints at the school and more time at Nkgopoleng Secondary School, she crossed the fence to becoming an administrator at Malamulele East Circuit in 1990. Five years later she moved to Malamulele Central Circuit.
Bahlaloga Circuit was her next stop as head of the office prior to taking charge of Pietersburg in 2008.|
Having acquired a wealth of knowledge on education matters throughout her 22 years as a senior administrator in the depart-ment, she has not lost her hunger for excellence.
Despite ending her public service career in style having led her circuit to four consecutive awards as the Best Circuit in the province, she said the excellence she yearned for was not fully achieved.
"The cooperation and commitment of principals and teachers is what I enjoyed most about my job," she said, adding that labour relations matters remained her biggest challenge in her duties.
Maine reckons she has survived a lengthy career in the sector because she is motivated by improvement in performance of learners.
When asked what the one thing is that she would love to see happening in the department she provided a stern response: "Doing away with appointing temporary educators. It causes instability and delays schools’ development and robs educators of their just pension," she said.
Though she will be lost to the department for good by the end of the month, she will still be offering her expertise on school leadership and curriculum management in the private sector.