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UFS students ace SAICA exam

06 April 2023 | Story Kekeletso Takang | Photo Quinter Onyango

UFS Academic tutors — UFS academic trainees thrilled at passing the January 2023 ITC exam.

An important milestone in the journey to becoming a chartered accountant in South Africa begins with passing the Initial Test of Competence (ITC) examination of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA). The examination is written after obtaining an accredited postgraduate qualification in accountancy. This milestone was reached by virtually all (98%) BAccHons/PGDip (Chartered Accountancy) graduates from the class of 2022 at the University of the Free State (UFS). Results announced by SAICA on 31 March 2023 further indicate that UFS graduates obtained an overall pass rate of 93%, exceeding the national pass rate of 75%.

“These results confirm the ‘quality’ and ‘excellence’ of the Chartered Accountancy academic programme offered by the UFS and attest to the effectiveness of the learning and teaching approaches adopted by the School of Accountancy, and the commitment of the school’s staff to their students’ success,” said Prof Frans Prinsloo, Director of the School of Accountancy.

Voices of the future

Bakang Moraladi, an academic trainee in the School of Accountancy who took and passed the January 2023 ITC exam, believes the open-door policy followed by the academic staff made it possible for him to establish a support structure. “The staff in the UFS School of Accountancy really goes all out to ensure that what I regard as the toughest academic year (CTA/PGCA) goes smoothly. Despite very hectic schedules, staff in the School of Accountancy still find time to provide mentorship to students to ensure that they are equipped with the right knowledge and skills before sitting for the ITC. I had the privilege of having the Director of the School of Accountancy as a mentor. Although I had a mentor dedicated to me, the staff members in the School of Accountancy literally had their doors open to offer guidance whenever necessary,” he says.

Kyle Horak, a graduate of the class of 2022 and also an academic trainee in the School of Accountancy, attributes a big part of his success to the support provided by the academic staff. “I would not have been able to do it without the UFS. The support they provide is tremendous. At the beginning of the PGCA year, it feels as if the lecturers are ‘out to get you’ with all the submissions and the impossible tests, but as time goes on, you start to notice that there is method to the madness, and due to the work done by the lecturers, the ITC examination becomes manageable.” He passed the ITC exam with a final mark of more than 75%, making him part of a select group of only 65 candidates (from the more than 3 000 candidates who wrote the examination).

Other academic trainees employed by the School of Accountancy who passed this exam, are Courteney Crew, Phiwe Ndwebi, Somila Joka, Bokang Makatsa, Jubilee Mushonga, and Jeandre Strauss.

Integrated approach

The School of Accountancy attributes these results to a myriad of factors. For example, the school employs an award-winning learning and teaching approach that is student-centred, combining the efforts of academic and support staff to achieve student success. In addition, learner tracking and monitoring is facilitated through its Thuthuka and Intrabas units, in addition to peer-to-peer mentoring structures where students can learn from and support each other. While focus is placed on students’ academic performance, they are afforded a balanced approach that includes informal social events that assists in breaking down barriers between lecturers and students.

One such student who benefited from this teaching approach is Ruwardo Wemmert, a UFS graduate who was placed fourth in the January 2023 ITC exams of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Namibia (ICAN), where the two UFS graduates from the class of 2022 who wrote the ICAN ITC examination, passed.

Journey to success

The ITC serves as the first of two SAICA qualifying examinations, assessing candidates’ technical competence acquired through the academic programme, by requiring the candidate to analyse and evaluate specific scenarios presented.

“Success in the ITC means I am only one more professional exam away from being a CA(SA). Over and above the support provided by the School of Accountancy team, Thuthuka supported me in every dimension. Next up for me is successfully completing my 3 600 hours of practical training and then obtaining that four-letter designation: CA(SA). I will be a change maker – I have a lot to give to society, and my goal is to be the ultimate difference maker.” These are the words of Somila Joka, one of the 2022 graduates and academic trainees in the School of Accountancy.

News Archive

Multi-disciplinary research approach at UFS

2005-10-25

UFS follows multi-disciplinary research approach with opening of new centre

“A new way of doing business in necessary in the research and teaching of agriculture and natural sciences in South Africa. We must move away from departmentalised research infrastructures and a multi-disciplinary approach to research involving several disciplines must be adapted,” said Prof Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Prof van Schalkwyk delivered the keynote address during the launch of the Centre for Plant Health Management (CePHMa) at the Main Campus in Bloemfontein today (21 October 2005). CePHMa is an initiative of the UFS Department of Plant Sciences.

According to Prof van Schalkwyk a tertiary institution must practice multi-disciplinary research to be a world-class research institution. “It is difficult for researchers to admit that they do not know a lot about each other’s area of speciality. It is therefore necessary for researchers to make a paradigm shift and to focus on inter-disciplinary co-operation. To do this, we must encourage them to work together and to find a common language to communicate ideas en establish symbiotic relationships,” said Prof Van Schalkwyk.

“We tend to think that research is better and faster if it is specialised. This is not true. The new generation of scientists are young and they are trained to form a concept of the total system and not to focus on a specific area of speciality. At the UFS we encourage this approach to research. This was one of the main reasons for the establishment of CePHMa,” said Prof Van Schalkwyk.
CePHMa is the only centre of its kind in Africa and is established to extend the expertise in plant health management in South Africa and in Africa, to train experts in plant health and to conduct multi-disciplinary research about the health of agricultural crops.

“CePHMa is a virtual centre comprising of ten disciplines applicable to crop production and crop protection,” said Prof Wijnand Swart, Chairperson of CePHMa during the opening ceremony.

“The UFS is the leading institution in Africa in terms of news crop development and manages three research programmes that concentrate on new crops, i.e. the New Crop Pathology Programme, the New Crop Development Programme and the Insects on New Crops Programme. Other applied research programmes that are unique to the UFS are genetic resistance to rust diseases of small grain crops and sustainable integrated disease management of field crops,” said Prof Swart.

“Because the expected growth in population will be 80% in 2020 in sub-Saharan Africa, the future demands of food produce in Africa will be influenced. Therefore research will in future be focused on ways to improve food security by employing agricultural systems that are economically viable and environmentally sound,” said Prof Swart.

“Thorough knowledge of the concept of holistic plant health management is crucial to meet the challenge and it is therefore imperative that innovative crop protection and crop production strategies, with particular emphasis on plant health, be adopted. This is why the Department of Plant Sciences initiated the establishment of CePHMA,” he said.

According to Prof Swart there is a shortage of expertise in plant health management. “The UFS has shown the potential to address the demand of the sub-continent of Africa regarding expertise training and CePHMa is the leader in southern Africa to provide in this need,” he said.

The appropriateness and quality of training in plant health management is reflected in the fact that students from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Malawi, Uganda, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania, Cameroon, Angola, Mozambique and Lesotho have already been trained or are in the process of being trained in at the UFS.

Scientists from CePHMa have forged partnerships with numerous national and international institutions including the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), various community trusts, seed, pesticide and agricultural chemical companies, in addition to overseas universities.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
21 October 2005

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