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Students to work at National Zoo
The Work Integrated Learning (WIL) team recently hosted a fruitful workshop with qualifying WIL students. Although a few final arrangements still need to be put in place, about 10 Unisa students will work at the National Zoological Gardens.
Although it is the responsibility of each student to find a WIL placement, the WIL team and the regions coordinate this and try to find companies that can take in students.
Mia le Roux, the Regional Office coordinator, believes that WIL is necessary in that it helps "those students who have WIL as part of their qualification cannot graduate unless they have completed their experiential learning with an accredited employer."
The students working at the National Zoo will learn relevant skills in their particular areas of study, such as horticulture, engineering and human resources.
"We are very grateful to the National Zoo for taking our students, as placements in the professional environment have their own challenges," said Le Roux.
The placement programme at the Zoo will run throughout 2009 and, where applicable, students will be credited by Unisa for the modules which have such a requirement.
Melusi Mtshali who is studying towards a BCom in Tourism Management said that "the one thing that stands out for me about Unisa is that there is constant communication and they have confidence in us as students."
To ensure the students are properly equipped for their new work environment, Ilse Fouche, a facilitator in the Gauteng Region, delivered an interactive presentation on interview skills, business ethics and what the expectations of a workplace are.
But what is WIL? Sometimes referred to as In Vivo learning, WIL is an umbrella term, used at Unisa, to include experiential education/teaching strategies such as clinical training/teaching/practice, internships, professional practice, experiential training/learning, supervised learning/practice and work-based learning. WIL is differentiated from the practical or the laboratory component(s) of a qualification. | 
