Welcoming the students and guests, Dr Edgar Nesamvuni, Executive Dean of the faculty, said the Top Achievers Award ceremony was specially established to reward hard work, dedication and excellence and to encourage students at the faculty to succeed academically.
“As the biggest faculty in the University, it is seldom not easy for all our students to succeed, but today we are proud to be here and celebrate with students who did it during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our number one priority is academic excellence,” said Dr Nesamvuni.
He challenged all the recipients of the awards to continue working hard in order to qualify for the Dean’s Scholarship that will cover their tuition when they do their doctoral studies. “You must embrace the spirit of Ubuntu and help other struggling students by becoming mentors and tutors at the faculty,” Dr Nesamvuni told the students.
Addressing the students, guest speaker, Vuyani Jarana, Chief Executive Officer of Litha Telecommunications and the Chairperson of the Eastern Cape Development Corporation, said the quality of being outstanding and excellent surpassed just being good. “Achieving excellence means you are working hard, with dedication, resilience and passion to succeed,” he continued.
He said the traits of an achiever include developing strong networking skills as well as continuously planning to improve yourself. He indicated that after completion of their studies, students will be joining the world of work which has technologically transformed over the years. “As technology is at the centre of everything, students will need to adapt and learn how to embrace it in a manner that it does not impact the work of people,” he added.
“We are living in a country that has many challenges such as high unemployment rate. When you enter the world of work, you top achievers must identify all the challenges the country faces and come up with innovative solutions on how to solve them. You can uncover opportunities in many fields; you just need to research more and use technology,” he said.
In conclusion, Vuyani said, “As we celebrate the excellent academic achievements, it is equally important for the top achievers to encourage others to also aspire to be top achievers as well and excel in their respective fields.”