The newly appointed headmaster of the Louis Botha Technical High School (THS) in Bloemfontein has a vision of a technical school serving all in a changing world.
Willie van Tonder, acting headmaster for the last two years, has a passion for technical education and is excited about the future of the school.
“I believe doors are opened through technical education,” he says.
Although he comes from an academical background, Van Tonder feels privileged to officially take up the leadership role at the school where he has been teaching for the past decade.
He grew up in Wepener and has been studying and teaching in and around his home town since.
Van Tonder matriculated at Grey College, excelling in athletics and cross-country during his time there.
He obtained a BSc degree at the University of the Free State (UFS) before completing his diploma in Higher Education at the University of South Africa (Unisa).
Keeping close to his roots, he took his first teaching position at the Springfontein High School in 1995; moving on to his home town, teaching at the Louw Wepener High School in 1997. Here he was appointed as Department Head of Mathematics and Science in 2004.
His next position was at the Christiaan de Wet High School in Dewetsdorp, from 2005.
Van Tonder started his teaching career at HTS in 2013 and was appointed deputy headmaster in 2017.
As acting principal for the last two years, he knows it is no easy feat being the one in charge of a technical school with 1 200 learners and a staff complement of 60.
“People have a misconception about the difficulty of education at a technical school,” Van Tonder says.
“Our learners have to tackle difficult subjects like Mathematics and Science along with a choice of one of seven technical specialisations. We are very proud of the matric pass rate of 90% that was achieved in 2022.
“At the school we have a vision that every learner will be known, safe, inspired, challenged and empowered.
“It is a school with high expectation and high academic achievement.”
Local rugby hero Ox Nche, as well as Springbok scrum coach Daan Human, shone the light on their alma mater at THS when the Springboks achieved their glorious win over New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup final recently.
Other well-known sporting heroes who also sat at these desks are cricket legend Alan Donald and pole-vaulting athlete Okkert Brits.
Appart from producing learners who excel in sport, the school is proud to have presented the annual Technical Competition for the Motheo District and the Free State the last three years.
The National Technical Competition was presented over five days at the school in 2022.
The deputy chairperson of the school governing body, Mojalefa Gideon Kaudi, speaks for the SGB when he says they are confident in and support the new headmaster.
“We know he will take THS to its former glory. We have a visionary in the office,” Kaudi concludes.
