Marlon Bhana (59) will bid farewell to the education sector at the end of this year, closing a career that has guided and uplifted countless learners over more than three decades.

Marlon completed his education diploma at Rand College in 1987 and began teaching at Willow Crescent Secondary School the following year. As his passion for education deepened, he moved to Randfontein Secondary School in 1998, where he taught business studies and physical education until 2005.

He later joined the Gauteng West District Department as a life orientation facilitator before taking on a new challenge in 2010 as the first principal of Lukhanyo Secondary School. In 2012, he moved to Laerskool Venterspos as principal, where he remained until 2014.

From there, he returned to the district as project manager for the SSIP (Grade 12 intervention project) programme, and since 2017, he has served as a school inspector.

Over the span of his career, Marlon has supported 157 schools in the West Rand. He also worked part-time for the Mathew Goniwe School of Leadership, training principals, school management teams and governing bodies. In addition, he co-ordinated learner councils structures in the department and has been instrumental in helping underperforming schools improve their results since 2014.

One of his most notable achievements was representing the district in the Education War Room at the Gauteng Premier’s office.

Marlon will officially conclude his career on December 31.

“There were plenty of highs and lows, but not a single day went by without learning something new,” he reflected.

He said he is most proud of helping underperforming schools reach their full potential.

“To do this job, you need passion. You must be willing to learn and accept challenges every day. By doing that, you – and the learners under your care – can grow,” Marlon said.

Although he is retiring, Marlon plans to continue training principals, management teams and school governing bodies.