When Sanelisiwe Xulu passed her matric in 2006, she wanted nothing but to become a political economist.

But today she is a teacher after developing a love for teaching while she was studying BA in politics and economics at University of Johannesburg (UJ).

Sowetan interviewed Xulu as part of World Teachers' Day today.

During the final year of her BA degree, Xulu was involved in an outreach programme where some university students were assisting high school pupils with their studies. Her focus was on economics.

"From doing the outreach programme I saw a gap in the education department that required young teachers to fill in," Xulu said.

"My passion of serving the community, especially the youth, and my willingness to impart knowledge of economics to the younger generation and the excitement to train young debaters, public speakers and researchers completed the package and I registered for a post-graduate certificate for education at UJ."

The 27-year-old began her teaching career at Leondale Secondary School in Ekurhuleni in 2012, where she is not only a teacher but is on a mission to prove wrong the stereotype that teachers nowadays have no passion for their job.

"Over the years, I have come to understand that teaching is not about the money but about changing lives.

While people in other careers are motivated by the continuous increase in salaries, in education teachers are motivated by seeing learners breaking through from poverty to become doctors, engineers, economists and charted accountants," Xulu said.

"In teaching, I have mentally and emotionally matured. I became a mother, guardian and a mentor to a number of learners, some from disadvantaged backgrounds who are now completing their degrees."

Xulu said it did not bother her that she had been a teacher for five years while her peers she went to university with already hold big positions in politics and are travelling the world.

"With my BA degree I could have chosen to be a politician, an economist, a journalist or a diplomat but I am content with my career in education," she said.

Xulu has gone beyond the call of duty and implemented programmes at her schools and in the community to empower pupils. She started a tutorial school at her home where she and her sister used to assist pupils with subjects that they were struggling with such as accounting, maths, economics and English.

She said as a result of the tutorials pupils started to gain confidence and improved in the subjects.

In 2013, she formed a group of pupils who were interested in debate, public speaking and research and coached them.

She said the group had over the years obtained awards in debating, public speaking and research competitions.

In January, the Gauteng department of education (GDE) awarded Xulu with a certificate for producing outstanding matric results.

"When GDE did the analysis of results they realised that the average results that I produced at Leonadale Secondary School were higher than the average results of the province, which was a sign of quality results," she said.

Xulu said she had no desire to leave teaching and was currently doing her honours in development studies. Her thesis focuses on the importance of education in fighting poverty and eliminating the number of informal settlements.

"When a teacher furthers their studies, it doesn't benefit them only but it benefits learners as well because they are in a position to gain quality information from a well educated teacher."

macupeb@sowetan.co.za