NMU equips learners
While students of Nelson Mandela University (NMU) are enjoying the winter recess, arrangements are being finalised to welcome more than 200 learners from the Southern Cape to the George Campus for the annual Grade 12 Accounting School. The school will be hosted at NMU George campus from 2 to 6 July, in collaboration with Investec, says spokesperson Alet van Tonder.
This sought-after event, presented under the theme "Be a world changer", is about much more than simply boosting exam results. "It brings together learners from all walks of life, helps equip them with valuable social and interpersonal skills, inspires them to view life through a different lens - and to dream," says Van Tonder. The week-long winter school is set to give learners a taste of university life, following the same academic model used by NMU's School of Accounting, where formal lectures are followed by smaller tutorial groups. In this role, the tutor helps learners to identify the source of any difficulties they may have and assist them in solving it. "This empowering model is also greatly beneficial to the tutors themselves, as they also develop various skills in the process," says Van Tonder.
The programme for the week includes motivational talks and mentoring by accounting professionals and past students; information on career opportunities in the accounting profession; talks on funding options and application procedures, and much more. The programme concludes on the Friday afternoon with a prize-giving to acknowledge the efforts of the learners involved in the programme.
Notes and additional material on the subjects covered, as well as Grade 12 Exam papers and solutions, are provided as part of the winter school package. Shuttle transport, with designated pick-up points between the campus and town, is also provided free of charge, while about two-thirds of the learners from schools in the neighbouring towns and from as far afield as Ladismith, have opted to make use of the subsidised on-campus accommodation.