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SPECIAL FEATURE Educational opportunities are growing in Mpumalanga A new university and active technical and vocational colleges offer a wide range of qualifications. The northern edge of the city of Mbombela has a striking new architectural addition – the University of Mpumalanga. On a hill north of the Crocodile River a complex of department headquarters and residence buildings is taking shape as home to the province’s first university. By building on existing institutions such as teacher training colleges, the university has progressively offered more courses and taken on more students over the last few years. The official launch was in October 2013 with the first cohort of 169 students registered in just three programmes in 2014. By 2020, the university was offering 26 qualifications to 4 200 students. The university currently offers 48 programmes in three faculties: Education; Agriculture and Natural Sciences; and Economics and Business Sciences. There are plans to add new programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and to establish the faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the School of Law. By 2024, the plan is to offer approximately 70 qualifications to over 8 000 students. That is the year in which the university’s first doctoral graduates will be capped. Research relevant to the needs of the province can now be done at local level. Issues such as acid mine water leaking from abandoned mining sites and new applications for products in the timber industry are among the kinds of research that will boost economic productivity in Mpumalanga, and lead to better socio-economic conditions for citizens. As with the country’s other new university, in Kimberley in the Northern Cape, the establishment of a new institution opened the door for generating new buildings of outstanding quality by means of a competitive bidding process. The first round of winners comprised four architectural companies, namely Cohen and Garson, Conco Bryan Architects, TC Design Group (Pty) Ltd and Gapp Architects and Urban Designers (Pty) Ltd. They were chosen from an early field of 147 companies. University of Mpumalanga students have distinguished MPUMALANGA BUSINESS 2022/23 40
SPECIAL FEATURE themselves in competitions run by ENACTUS, an international organisation that works with leaders in business and higher education to mobilise university students to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills to become socially responsible business leaders. Mpumalanga students have won first place in categories such as LED Challenge, Triple Bottom Sustainability and Community Development. Among the anchor sponsors are Barloworld, Ford, Harmony Gold, MTN and Nedbank. Training institutions Mpumalanga has three Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, with an enrolment of over 36 000. UNISA, the Tshwane University of Technology and the Vaal University of Technology also have satellite campuses in the province. The TVET colleges are located in each of the province’s three District Municipalities: Gert Sibande (four campuses and a skills academy), Nkangala and Ehlanzeni, which has six campuses, a skills centre and a satellite campus. Ehlanzeni TVET College offers 10 National Certificate (Vocational) programmes including ICT, Finance, Economics and Accounting, Engineering and Related Design and Tourism. There are also a number of shorter skills courses on offer: automotive repairs and maintenance, computer practice, entrepreneurship, municipal administration and communications management. Nkangala TVET College offers Civil Engineering and Building Construction at its CN Mahlangu campus and Electrical Infrastructure Construction at three of its five campuses, among its seven NCV academic programmes. The Mpumalanga Regional Training Trust (MRTT) is a Section 21 company active in skills training. It has several sites in the province, including a Hospitality and Tourism Academy at Karino, just outside Nelspruit. The corporate head office is in eMalahleni and other MRTT training centres are at Bronkhorstspruit (Ekandustria Training Centre) and White River (Kabokweni Training Centre). The Fluor Training Centre in Secunda offers training in fields such as fitting, welding, pipefitting and other building trades. Over the years, more than 30 000 people have studied at the centre, which is accredited with the Metal and Engineering Industries Training Board, the Construction Education & Training Authority (CETA), and the Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority (CHIETA). ONLINE The RESOURCES Southern African Wildlife College, offering diploma and short courses in conservation, is a joint World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa (WWF-SA) and Peace Parks Foundation initiative. SAWC claims more than 20 000 alumni active in conservation in 56 countries worldwide. The college’s training departments are not predetermined, but rather chosen after consultation with conservation organisations in the SADC region about what is most relevant. Courses routinely include modules such as Natural Resource Management. The college is located near the Orpen Gate on the edge of the Kruger National Park. Sasol is a major supporter of research and training in the province. A group of Mpumalanga teachers has had the opportunity to train as master teachers for Robotics and Coding, courtesy of Sasol. The Sasol Foundation has also donated multimedia resources for teachers and pupils in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Awards for students who achieve in science and mathematics are regularly given and Sasol supports many students on bursaries at universities and colleges. The Sasol SGS Global Learning SHE Academy is located in Evander. ■ The Southern African Wildlife College has a dog unit known as K9. Credit: SAWC 41 MPUMALANGA BUSINESS 2022/23
