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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