The purpose of the event was to thank the school principals of strategically identified top feeder schools for their loyal commitment to the academic development of learners in the region.
During this event Prof Dan Kgwadi, vice-chancellor, and Prof Linda du Plessis, deputy vice-chancellor for planning and campus operations in Vanderbijlpark, addressed the school principals on the strategic positioning of the NWU and shared its recent developments and achievements.
In his speech Prof Kgwadi praised the school principals for the important role their respective schools play in delivering exceptional academic talent for admission to undergraduate programmes at the university.
He further mentioned that the NWU had welcomed more than 12 000 first years on the three campuses during 2019, and that the student-recruiting team had involved more than 1 100 schools in their marketing campaign.
Prof Du Plessis added that, against the background of the university’s objective to serve the community with knowledge through innovative learning and teaching as well as ground-breaking research, school principals represent important “partners of collaboration”.
According to Prof Du Plessis, this collaboration contributes to the realisation of the NWU’s goals and dream to be an internationally recognised university in Africa, distinguished for engaged scholarship, social responsiveness and an ethic of care.
“Teachers are in fact the engineers of a better future and it is therefore important that we take hands in order to build a community that is an example of cultural sensitivity, political intelligence and social adaptability, while the focus is on academic excellence and a culture of innovation,” said Prof Du Plessis.
Members of the NWU’s student-recruiting team are, from the left Hannatjie Visagie, Piet van Wyk, Naledi Lehutso and Jabu Sithole.
