Quality Education is the fourth goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This ensures inclusive and equitable quality education and promotes lifelong learning opportunities for all. Achieving this goal reaffirms the belief that education is one of the most powerful and proven vehicles for sustainable development.
Eric Vondee, a 22 year old Ghanaian youth is already taking giant strides to ensure that this goal is achieved. Eric, a student of Actuarial Science 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 children’s homes in order to teach them privately.
While some students treat business seminars with complete insouciance and would rather spend their time in unprofitable activities, this business idea Eric explained, came to him at a 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 perform poorly academically and needed special attention from a teacher to improve. I also thought that every parent wants their children to excel academically, therefore they would go the extra mile to get a private teacher for them, hence the birth of My Home Teacher”
After his secondary education at Apam Senior High, at eighteen years of age, Eric decided not to depend on his parents for school fees or pocket money but to become an independent young man. “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.”
My Home Teacher formally established in January 2015 has received many recognitions for their contribution to the education system in Ghana. Eric Vondee, In 2015 was named one 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 positively 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 award on her graduation day and there are many more who have excelled in their fields of study.
Teaching which used to be a highly sought-after profession in the past , has in recent years witnessed a decline due to unattractive remunerations and delay in payment of teacher’s salaries. However, this did not discourage Eric who got his first job as a teacher because of 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.
With the exposure and experience acquired from teaching, Eric realized the need to channel the knowledge gained into assisting pupils with slower understanding of a subject at their various homes with the consent of their parents.
My Home Teacher currently operates for Junior High and Senior High students in Greater Accra and Cape Coast. Eric plans to expand his business to all the ten regions of Ghana to help connect parents who need home tuition for their children to qualified teachers.
Eric Vondee was able to further his education to the tertiary level with the money saved from teaching and had since his first year, been solely responsible for his tuition.
It has not been smooth sailing all through, combining teaching and academics at the same time has it’s challenges, but by setting his priorities Eric has been able to achieve success. “I have been a major advocate of setting your priorities straight. If there are some things that you have to do at a particular point in time you have to do it. And forgo things that will waste your time in life” .
He also advises youths to do the same.
Eric Vondee, C.E.O of My Home Teacher, is also a Radio Presenter for ATL FM on campus, a Singer and an Actor.