media releases - Launch of the College of Education

Scores of people braved last Friday’s wet weather to witness the birth of a new College of Education at Unisa’s Main Campus in Pretoria. So significant was the launch of this new college that it drew interest from a wide variety of stakeholders, including educationists, scholars, students, policy makers as well as Unisa’s retired veterans.

Speaking during the welcoming address, Unisa Principal and Vice Chancellor, Professor Mandla Makhanya confirmed that the new college, which previously operated as a school within the College of Human Sciences, will now, as a fully-fledged college, aim to ‘re-imagine the research, teaching and study of education as a discipline’ as it seeks to produce top quality teachers for the country.     

Unisa, he said, has one of the largest teacher education footprints in the country and has always been at the forefront of training and development in the education sector, with over 50 per cent of the country’s current crop of teachers coming from the institution.

Echoing these sentiments, Professor Kuzvinetsa Dzvimbo, the college’s Executive Dean emphasised the vision of the college, which is to be the first-choice provider of high-quality Open Distance Learning (ODL) education programmes in South Africa and beyond.

According to Dzvimbo, the new college now has the mission of being amongst the first to revolutionise the teaching profession and to lay a solid foundation for the education of future generations.

The Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, Professor Hlengiwe Mkhize, who spoke on behalf of Government, congratulated Unisa on its decision to establish a college specifically dedicated to the training and development of teachers.

She expressed Government’s confidence in Unisa’s ability to play a leading role in national efforts to find lasting solutions to the country’s education challenges. She acknowledged as well the role that Unisa has played in the past, and continues to play, as a formidable contributor in the education sector in South Africa.