MEET SA'S BEST TEACHER

This principal from a tiny farm schoolin the Free State earned top honours at the National Teaching Awards

- JACO HOUGH-COETZEE

NOT many people will have heard of Van Stadensrus, a small district in the heart of the Free State - and even fewer will know about Gelukwaarts, the tiny farm school that serves kids in the area.

But it's on the map now after its principal, Sunet Wessels, was named the best teacher in South Africa at the recent National Teaching Awards.

Sunet (60), one of 13 teachers at the school of just 192 students, couldn't be more delighted.

"Standing in front of the judges, when they shook my hand, that's when I realised - we're being seen," she says.

She's been principal of Gelukwaarts since 2017 and says the love the children and teachers have for each other make it a special place.

"So many times visiting inspectors have said, 'We feel nothing but love here".

As a little girl Sunet wasn't especially interested in teaching but a memory from her school years foreshadowed where life would take her.