Pupils experience varsity
THERE were a few new faces in accounting lectures at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) earlier this month as top pupils from 11 schools in the Bay shadowed top students for the day.
The 23 Grade 11 pupils were matched up in pairs or individually with 15 first and second-year accounting students – most of them recipients of the university's prestigious vice chancellor's scholarship – in the school of accounting's first "Student for a day" initiative.
They attended lectures with their students – and passed the day as any student does, including lunch at the on-campus restaurant Madibaz and take-away coffee on their way to lecture halls. They were each given a backpack, complete with an exam pad and pen to take notes, along with information relevant to their forthcoming studies.
"You're going into actual lectures with actual students," accounting lecturer and project head Suzette Snyders told the pupils on their arrival.
Snyders said the school of accounting planned to grow this project in the future by including more schools and expanding the number of pupils who could participate.
"We started the project by just asking schools in the area, sending invitations to the two top-performing accounting pupils at each of these schools.
"They are spending the day on campus, seeing exactly what a normal student's day consists of... We've tried to pair them up with students who matriculated from their schools. And we've paired the Afrikaans-speaking pupils with Afrikaans-speaking students."
Snyders, who is Afrikaans-speaking, is passionate about encouraging Afrikaans pupils to pursue their studies in English, as this is the language of the business world.
"Today is an opportunity for the pupils to ask questions and find out what it's really like to be a student at NMMU," she said.
Riebeek College's Yolanda Mni, 17, who is aiming to become a chartered accountant, said she was looking forward to "seeing how university actually is". "It's a great opportunity to see how things work."
Her classmate, Kauthar Ravat, 16, said: "I'm a little nervous, but more excited."
Andrew Rabie's Lance Johnson, 17, said he was looking forward to "mingling with the students and getting a feel of the university".
"I have a lot of questions. I want to be a CA... The only other time I've come to the university was to play tennis. I feel very excited about the day."
Johnson's student "buddy" Ryno Burger, 19, a first-year BCom (chartered accounting) student said he loved the idea of the programme.
"I have a brother in Grade 11 and I keep saying I want to bring him to varsity to experience the lifestyle of a student. High school is very different from university. You grow up a lot in a year."
Other high schools included in this first initiative were Alexander Road, Despatch, Brandwag, Cillie, Victoria Park, Framesby, Collegiate, Pearson and Linkside. - Nicky Willemse
