2023 Open Day Underway at UNIZULU’s KwaDlangezwa Campus

A warm winter’s day, buses packed to capacity and smartly clad matric learners with aspirations and the perfect dose of curiosity.

This sums up the first day of the 2023 University of Zululand (UNIZULU) Open Day – a destination for many high schools in the King Cetshwayo, iLembe, Zululand, and Umkhanyakude district municipalities.

The UNIZULU open day initiative is an annual event solely dedicated to informing prospective students about the various academic programmes that are available in the institution, their entry requirements, the application process, and available funding opportunities. Furthermore, the visiting learners get the opportunity to interact with representatives from the various departments across the university’s four faculties where they learn about each academic programme’s module offering as well as the possible sectors in which they can secure employment after graduating. What’s more, the learners get to witness, firsthand, what it is like to be in a university environment.

This year’s event was not different. The university warmly received its potential students, commencing with a formal session where the potential students were briefly told about the institution’s ethos, faculties, application processes and funding matters.

Professor Sewela Mabusela, Director: Teaching and Learning, highlighted that UNIZULU classifies itself as a university of choice. She therefore urged the learners to make the institution their first choice when submitting their applications via CAO. “Make sure that you choose a career that you like. Don’t choose something that you think you will pass quickly and then at the end of the day you don’t find employment,” she advised. After briefly touching on the university’s academic programmes, Prof Mabusela then stressed that the university has many support structures such as the library and Writing Centre which aid students in their academic journeys.  

In her presentation, CAO representative Nomthandazo Mohodi reminded the learners that her organisation opened applications as far back as March 2023. She stressed that they need not wait for their mid-year or trials results as applicants are allowed to apply using their grade 11 end-of-year results.

Learners also received key information during the Financial Aid Bureau’s presentation. Here they were told about the criteria for qualifying including common mistakes to avoid, like submitting applications with email addresses and cellphone numbers that belong to an internet cafe. The presenter thus encouraged learners to create email addresses and ensure they submit these along with personal cellphone numbers so that NSFAS can easily reach them when sending feedback.  

After this session, the learners were allowed into the exhibition venue where they could enquire more about their preferred courses.

• Naledi Hlefane