Mangosuthu University welcomes returning students

On Monday, 22 January 2019 Mandisa Dlamini took a giant step towards completing her studies and securing her future. She registered for her final year in National Diploma in Accounting (Extended Curriculum Propgramme) at Mangosuthu University of Technology.  Mandisa is one of many returning students that make the bulk of the MUT student body. In fact these students make over 66% of the student population.

This year, MUT will enrol just under 4000 new first-year students. Come end of July when the mid-year intake would have been completed, the University will have its full student population of 12 500 students. It is clear that returning students are the backbone of the student population, and a yardstick by which the University measures its daily and future operations.

While most returning students were socialising, and going around hugging friends they last saw the previous year, Mandisa was in a pensive mood. She said her daily prayer was that everything goes well at MUT so that she could get a chance to graduate next year.

“Like most students from disadvantaged backgrounds, I also have to think about improving living conditions at my home in Nkwali, near Lower Illovo, south of Durban. Some people call it black tax. Well, I call it responsibility, and necessity for redress. I pray every day that I get a job soon. My mother has done a lot for me. I really feel a need to pay her back,” said the reserved Mandisa.

Mandisa’s mother works for Corrine Johnson in Hillscrest, west of the Durban city centre. Mandisa’s situation is an almost perfect reflection of most students from backgrounds similar to hers. Being the first to reach university level in the family! Being the first to graduate! Being the first to drain the family resources – most of which would be invested towards securing a better future! Being the first in the family to have a profession! And also having to assist the siblings after them! This is the reality of life for many of our students.

However, it is not an easy position for a young person. All of this plays in their minds, particularly when they think of graduating, and that they will then have to face the future, which is always accompanied by a level of uncertainty and brings anxiety with it. Students with such a background would not be looking at a nice holiday or vacation after 12 months of joining the workforce. They will be looking at what they would have done to improve conditions at their homes, some of which are at the far-flung places. Most of these students, over the years have considered MUT as their last hope and in turn, MUT has never failed in fulfilling this obligation and equipping students with the necessary tools for the world of work. Every year the University is besieged by multitudes of learners who trust and associate MUT with a bright future.

Registration for the returning students began on Monday, 21 January 2019, and will end five days later. “So far everything is going well. This is the best piece of news for us. Registration, in entirety, poses many challenges. In spite of the proper planning that we do every year, there would be hiccups along the way. There has not been any, so far,” said Xolani Kunene, Head of Administration. Xolani added that they were expecting all the returning students to take up their rightful places, and fill the lecture halls when lectures start on Monday, 28 January 2019.

Source Mangosuthu University of Technology