media releases - Unisa to announce details of groundbreaking agreement with Weste

The University of South Africa (Unisa) is set to officially announce the details of a groundbreaking Memorandum of Agreement it has entered into with three Further Education and Training (FET) colleges in the Western Cape Province.

The announcement will take place during the official unveiling of the additional building to the Unisa Cape Town Campus in Parow on Wednesday, 12 December 2012.

The Memorandum of Agreement has been entered into with the College of Cape Town, Northlink College and Boland College; and will see these colleges providing certain higher education qualifications under the certifying authority of the university.  The agreement also has specific clauses on quality assurance and the obligations of both parties to assure the integrity of the qualifications being offered.

It is also explicit on all elements of the partnership between Unisa and the colleges; including delivery of tuition, assessments, student support as well as certification of the qualifications offered by the respective colleges. 

Amongst the qualifications offered in terms of this agreement are the Degree of Bachelor of Education : Early Childhood Development (College of Cape Town), National Diplomas in Cost and Management Accounting, Marketing, Tourism Management, Office Management and Technology and Information Technology (Northlink College) as well as National Diploma : Agricultural Management (Boland College).

The extended Cape Town Campus, which currently serves 26 000 students with approximately 50 full time staff members, now includes a self-help registration facility completed in 2008 ; and a multi-purpose academic wing consisting of 18 tutorial and examination venues, open plan offices, upgraded toilet facilities, additional computer laboratories as well as upgraded parking facilities.

Further extensions are envisaged for the year 2013 and these will include the upgrading of office space for student administration, learning facilitation, student counseling and the library, amongst others

The Department of Higher Education and Training, represented by either the minister or the director-general’s office has been invited to deliver the keynote address; with other speakers including Unisa Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mandla Makhanya, Chief Executive Officer of the College of Cape Town, Mr Jannie Isaacs and Unisa’s Cape Town Regional Director, Dr Keith Jacobs.

The media is invited to attend the event. The details are as follows:

 Date   :           Wednesday, 12 December 2012

Venue  :           Unisa Cape Town Campus, 15 Jean Simmons Street, Parow

Time    :           09:00 for 09:30

Enquiries:      Mr Francois Louw – (021) 936-4160/0824545590 or Mr Martin Ramotshela – (012) 441-5639/0764863262.

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