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| Mrs. Mbua Hannah Etonde |
By Christopher Ambe
Mention
discipline in schools and I bet you both ex-students and students of Government
High School (GHS) Buea, would say it is synonymous to Mbua Nee Ngoto Hannah
Etonde, first ever female principal of Government High School (GHS) Buea.
This erudite
indigene of Fako Division of Cameroon has headed this 27 year- old school now
for 12 years, to the admiration of both hierarchy and the general public.
This educational
administrator/teacher, who on July 18, 2014 celebrated her 47th birth day in thanks-giving
to God, is generally described as an advocate of law and order, when
contributing her quota to the development of Cameroon.
As
recognition of her valuable contributions to nation-building, Mrs. Mbua Etonde
has been decorated by the State of Cameroon with the Knight of the National Order of Valour medal.
Asked what
inspired her to choose teaching as a career, Mrs.Mbua Etonde, who is holder of
an M.Ed in Educational Administration
(University of Buea) and is now a PhD
research fellow, said:
“From what my mother told me, I was actually
born to be a teacher. As a child, I am told, I used to rally other children in
my quarter, teach, advise and lead them.”
Mrs. Mbua Etonde who has been a career teacher for 20 years, has no problem blending teaching and administration.
“I teach, I administer and lead both teachers and students. And, I perform all these
functions smoothly guided by God”, she told this writer, beaming.
Determined
to have a doctorate degree in educational administration, she says “I am doing
this not to challenge anybody but as a challenge to my self-because as an administrator
and a teacher I cannot stop learning. The day I stop to learn I should probably
stop to teach. Teaching is a calling. The teacher does not build structures
that crumble, the teacher builds human beings”
A Disciplinarian
Generally described
as a strict disciplinarian- both by teachers and students, as well as
party/group fellow, Mrs. Mbua Etonde- who in 1992 earned a B.A (English) from
University of Yaoundé and in 1994 graduated as teacher from Higher Teachers’ Training College (ENS) Yaounde,
says:
“I am not
just strict for nothing. It is that I like students (and others working with me)
to do things well and at the right time. When they do things right, it they who reap
the benefits and are happy”
The
strictness of this principal, we gathered, forced some students wanting greater
freedom to threaten withdrawal from her school, arguing that such strictness
should only be applied in boarding schools, which GHS is not one.
To this
Mrs.Mbua Etonde reacted, “Many have complained that we discipline in a manner
that they think they are in a boarding school. But I still tell them we do that
to make them straight and law-abiding”
As principal
of GHS Buea since 2002, Mrs. Mbua Etonde has reportedly been putting her best
to maintain standards. Hear her :“I don’t
know if my best is the best. But I have been here as principal for 12 years and
I must be grateful to God for allowing me to share my experience with the stakeholders
of this school for this length of time. And if it is God’s wish that I continue
here I won’t say No”
The Recorder
has found out that, under Mrs. Mbua Etonde as principal for the past 12 years
in collaborations with parents of students of the school and the Government, GHS
Buea has recorded many achievements: high discipline in the school, which is now
public knowledge; academic excellence, there is improved infrastructure, a computer
laboratory/multi-media center, a well-equipped library, a school field, three science
laboratories among other things.
School Performace
Although GHS
Buea is yet have a 100 % score at the GGE exams during her tenure as principal ,exam
results so far have been quite satisfactory. “Every year when the results are published
I feel proud. I lift my head and congratulate my teachers.GHS Buea has never
sent out less than 200 students. Our students go out in hundreds-300 and above”,
the principal pointed to this writer, adding that, “for a school to register of
students of all sorts, I think if we have pass percentages of between 80 and
90,I think we are doing great. And I keep saying that my teachers are
wonderful-for teaching many students who
don’t have text books; for teaching students
who come to school without basic didactic materials to learn. That
notwithstanding, we are intensifying our efforts to start scoring 100 % soon”
Home Behavior
At home, Mrs.
Mbua Etonde, who is a mother of four, is motherly and “my children know that
the time I spend with them are very fruitful hours-hours that I inculcate in
them values that will keep them in good standing in society-values of hardwork,
tolerance, honesty, humility, fear of the Lord, discipline etc” She is grateful
that, she is married to a very understanding and caring husband,Njie Peter
Mbua,a court registrar, now on retirement but still very supportive of the family progress
Etonde, the Politician
A member of
the ruling CPDM since the 1990’s,Mrs. Mbua Etonde,has been president of Buea WCPDM(WCPDM Fako III) since March 2007 and is member of the WCPDM National Bureau since
2011. She had before held other duty
posts in the WCPDM in Buea such as Section Treasurer (May 2002 –march 2007) and
Subsection president of WCPDM Soppo Mokongo (1997-2002).
When the CPDM
won municipal elections in Buea in September 2013, Mrs. Mbua Etonde stood against
Ekema Patrick Esunge for the post of Mayo of Buea but lost. Yet, she is
ambitious. “I aspire to become something more than a mayor. Life is all
aspirations and hopes. My first objective was for the CPDM to win. And thank
God they did…If I had to be mayor; the Good God whom I serve would have made it
possible. God has allowed me to be a councilor and he who is mayor needs my
support”
The Teacher
She taught
English Language and Literature in Bilingual Grammar School (BGS)Molyko
Buea(December 1994-August 2000);taught ‘The
Use of English’ at University of Buea(September 1995- July 2000);taught English &
Literature at Central GCE Evening School
Mevick Bilingual Grammar School Yaounde( January 1993 –June 1994) and at Inter
Comprehensive College Buea(1992)
Mrs. Mbua Etonde has
been Assistant Chief Examiner (O’ level Literature in English) from July 2008
to date), and had been a GCE examiner for O’ level in English Literature (1995-2008)
Trust in God
Believing in the existence of the Almighty
God, Mrs.Mbua Etonde is a committed Christian, an elder and lay preacher of Presbyterian
Church Molyko –Buea; member of Christian Women Fellowship (CWF Molyko) and second-
term President-General of Ndol’a Kristo Choirs Association of the Presbyterian
Church in Cameroon (PCC).
Women’s mentor
“I would
like to advise female teachers, female students, female politicians and our
female children that life is not a race; that life is a gentle walk. When you
do it gently with the fear of the Lord, and you make sure that you mean
what you say and say what you mean, do
what you think is good for you to others, then there is no doubt that God will
bless you. Every female has the potentials of becoming a leader”
Legacy
Mrs.Mbua Etonde says:“If I were to go on retirement
today or even to die (laughs), I would like to be remembered for the things
that I have done to impact on the lives of others. There are many. For example,
you may know that ,for the past seven years that I have been President of WCPDM
in Buea,I have been touching the lives of some children who are deprived-300 of
them at least every year ,I donate to them didactic materials and I know that
these children will remember me. Recently, two students walked up to me at a conference
and greeted me, informing me that I gave them scholarships while they were in
primary school. Those children, I think, will tell their children about it.
“My teachers
will remember that I touched their lives-because I don’t make them do work, I work
with them and I correct them when necessary and reprimand when necessary; I
encourage and motivate them when the need arises.
Hobbies
Mrs.Mbua
Etonde is an amateur actress, who has
been member of both the Musinga Drama Group and the University of Yaounde
Theatre. She likes doing research t on important subjects .She enjoys
cooking and singing.
The foregoing
is ample evidence that Mrs.Mbua Etonde is a model to watch.
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