Florance Vermeulen
Nominee's Province:
Western Cape
Age:
Project Name/Description:
Florance Vermeulen started teaching in Bishop Lavis in 2019 and soon earned a mayoral award for youth empowerment when videos of his class singing and dancing went viral. But before he became a social media sensation, he had been dedicating his career to improving the lives of young South Africans through educational theatre. For six years, he travelled extensively across six South African provinces to use theatre as a powerful medium to address pressing social issues like HIV and Aids, drug addiction, etc. Florance’s diverse educational experience has been recognised for excellence at district, provincial and national levels. And in his latest venture he was selected to be a founding principal of a newly established school within the Apex School Network. Apex Pinelands opened in January 2026 and is a low-cost private school offering high-quality education. In his new role, he is prioritising the inclusion of parents into the scholastic journey of their children. “When schools consistently remove barriers and create simple opportunities for involvement, parents show up. Not always in person, not always at events, but through parent interventions rather than parent meetings. Through a personal phone call from the principal, notes of encouragement and simple conversations we bridge the divide,” he says.
