In recent times, the poor treatment
meted out to teachers in the country has made the teaching profession very
unattractive. A lot of people with the potential to teach have opted for other
more lucrative professions and this has caused a shortage of teachers in our
schools. Most persons who are in the profession are now there because there are
no other alternatives whiles some consider it as just a stepping stone.
But Eric Vondee, who is yet to enter his
third-year at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) has created his own business
concept called ‘My Home Teacher’ to help connect parents who need special/private
teachers to teach their wards at home to well-qualified teachers. These
qualified teachers go to the homes of parents in order to teach the children
privately.
This business idea Eric explained, came
to him at business seminar he attended on campus. “The speaker said something
that was very vital to me, he said that every problem is an opportunity to make
money or create a business out of it. So it was then that my attention was
drawn to students who academically perform poorly in school and will need special
attention with a teacher to improve upon their academics. I also thought that every
parent wants the best for their children in terms of academics, so they will go
a mile to get a private teacher for them, hence the birth of My Home Teacher”
Professionally established in January
2015, the Chief Executive officer for My Home Teacher recently emerged as part
of the thirty young Ghanaian entrepreneurs in the New Accra Achievers Magazine
that seeks to highlight the successes and achievements of young entrepreneurs
who have excelled and affected lives in various fields.
As part of My Home Teacher achievements,
one of its students whom they taught at home by the name Abigail Newton received
The Most Improved Student on her graduation day and there are many more who
have excelled in their field of study.
At age 18, after Eric completed his
secondary education at Apam Senior High, he made it a point not to depend on
his parents but to be independent. “I made a resolution about myself not to
demand school fees from my parents neither will I ask them for pocket money.
Because I believe that at the age of eighteen when you can vote and decide who
should be the president of your country then you must be able to also cater for
yourself.”
This is not to say that his parents were
not financially sound to pay for his fees nor cater for him but it was rather a
responsibility he set for himself to fight to make a living.
Surprisingly, his intelligence got him his
first job as a teacher due to the love and passion he had for teaching at CJ
Montessori School in Kotobabi – an international school that only employs
qualified and well trained teachers to impact knowledge to its pupils.
Eric acquired much experience in the
field of teaching and realised the need to help pupils who were very slow to
pick up in class at their various homes “After SHS I gained a teaching job and
that was where I grew my experience in teaching and understood how students
behave towards lessons and their entire approach to solving and interpreting
issues. So I began my journey of moving to their homes, to teach them with the
consent from their parents”
With the help of his parents and the
little money he had during his teaching, Eric was able to further his education
to the tertiary level and had since first-year, been solely independent -he
pays for his fees and caters for himself.
My Home Teacher currently operates for
Junior High and Senior High students in Greater Accra and Cape Coast. Eric aims
to expand his horizon to all the ten regions of Ghana to help connect parents who
need home tuition for their children to qualified teachers.
Setting priorities right and making sure
the right things are been done at the right time are the young achiever’s
strategy to success. He noted that combining teaching and academics at the same
time has been very challenging but he has learnt to set his priorities on the
move.
He advised the youth to make good use of
their time. “I have been a major advocate of setting your priorities right. If
there are some things that you have to do it at a particular point in time you
have to do it. And forgo things that will waste your time in life”
Eric Vondee 21, is reading B.Sc.
Actuarial Science in school. He is an Entrepreneur, a Radio Presenter on campus,
a Singer, an Actor, and the Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O) of My Home Teacher.
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