Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Pretoria, Professor Tawana Kupe, with students on the Hatfield campus. Picture: Jacques Naude/African News Agency (ANA)
Pretoria - With over 40% of all first-year students in South Africa not completing their degrees, the 11 908 qualifications due to be awarded by the University of Pretoria will be a much-welcome boost to the country’s knowledge store.
The qualifications will be conferred during the university’s Autumn graduation season which started yesterday and is set to continue until May 16.
According to the university, 46% of the students who will be graduating received some form of financial assistance during their studies, underlining the vital role of financial aid in the delivery of high-level skills.
Those who relied on financial aid to complete their qualifications include 840 students in engineering, the built environment and information technology, and 960 with economics and management sciences qualifications, including accounting sciences and tax.
Financial aid also enabled 560 students from the health sciences, 590 from the natural and agricultural sciences, and 172 from the veterinary sciences faculty to graduate.
This also includes 1 135 education students and close to 1 200 students in the law, humanities, and theology and religion faculties.
“Without financial assistance, these graduates might not have been where they are today, ready to contribute their knowledge and skills to the economy,” said Professor Tawana Kupe, UP principal and vice-chancellor.
“We are one of the largest contact universities in the country, generating large numbers of graduates with relevant degrees not only in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines but also in the humanities and social sciences, which emphasise critical thinking and the multifaceted aspects of humanity.”
Kupe said over and above their high-quality qualifications, the university was intentionally producing graduates who were ready for work, whether in formal employment or entrepreneurship, and who could adapt to what was unfolding in the future world of work.
Of the qualifications to be awarded at the Autumn Graduation ceremonies, 201 are doctorates, 1 384 Master’s degrees and 2 021 are Honours degrees.
In addition, UP will be conferring honorary doctorates on 10 recipients for their exceptional contributions to society, which include several prominent African leaders in their fields who have received international recognition.
This includes two honorary doctorates that will be awarded tomorrow to Ethiopia’s Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, and Laurie Dippenaar, a South African entrepreneur, innovator and philanthropist.
Following that, a ceremony for theology and religion graduates will be held on April 24, with an honorary doctorate to be conferred on Professor Isabel Apawo Phiri, a Malawian theologian and deputy secretary for the World Council of Churches since 2012.
Another recipient of an honorary doctorate will be awarded to the head of Leadership and Knowledge Development at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Verne Sheldon Harris.
Also in May, the university’s own Professor Kevin Wall, a civil engineer and town planner with a lifetime focus on improving service delivery in South Africa, will be earning his bragging rights, alongside Dr Tarek Khalil the founding president and Provost and Dean of the Nile University’s Graduate school of Management of Technology.
Professor Louise Fresco, a world-renowned expert in the field of agriculture and food security, will also be receiving her honorary doctorate.
The Autumn Graduation will close off by awarding a doctorate to legendary South African photographer Peter Magubane, as well as a doctorate to Professor David Nabarro, the director and chairperson of the Global Health at Imperial College London’s Institute of Global Health Innovation.
Congratulating all the graduates ahead of the opening day of the Autumn Graduations, Kupe encouraged the graduates to keep growing, learning and being curious.
“Future leaders like you, who are committed to changing the world, are needed.”
Pretoria News