BY Nkosazana Ngwadla
Meet Dr Lettah Sikhosana, who at just 27, obtained a PhD in Education from the University of South Africa which she completed in record time of two years.
Due to financial difficulties, she used to work as a domestic worker part-time to help fund her tertiary education.
Dr Sikhosana was born and raised in Kwaggafontein C, in the Mpumalanga province. She attended school at Thubelihle Primary School, Sozilani Combined School and Mkhephuli Secondary School where she matriculated in 2012.
In 2013, when the matric results were released, she received admission to numerous universities in South Africa and decided to enroll at the University of South Africa.
With her mother being a domestic worker and her father a truck driver at the time, they had to request advances of their wages where they worked to pay the minimum registration fee, which was about R3 000 as she had no funding as a first-year student.
Against all odds, she obtained a Bachelor of Education SFET Phase with 27 distinctions, a Bachelor of Education (BEd) Honours in Environmental Education and a Master of Education in Environmental Education from the University of South Africa (Unisa).
In 2022, at age 27, she completed a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Education in a record time of two years from the University of South Africa.
Dr Lettah Sikhosana is currently a Lecturer and the Chair for Research and Innovation in the Department of Science and Technology Education, College of Education at the University of South Africa.
“My parents sacrificed a lot in order to provide financial assistance and support towards my studies. I moved away from home and stayed with my mother in a backroom in Centurion, where she used to work as a domestic worker. I appreciate my mother’s employers for welcoming me with open arms in their home.”
“To ensure that I could attend the Sunnyside or Muckleneuk Unisa campus daily, I would work as a domestic worker on weekends where my mother was employed and get paid an amount of R200, which I used for transportation,” said Dr Lettah Sikhosana.
Image: Instagram
