A willingness to tackle difficult topics and include creative influences in his lectures have earned a CPUT lecturer a top teaching award.

Siddique Motala, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Civil Engineering and Surveying, was recently announced as a National Excellence in Teaching and Learning Award winner for 2017 and will formally receive the award at a gala ceremony in November.

The award is made on behalf of the Council of Higher Education (CHE) and the Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of South Africa (Heltasa) and recognises the unique contributions winners make to their classrooms.

Motala was also awarded the CPUT Faculty of Engineering’s Teaching and Learning Award in 2016 and credits his achievements to an interest in exploring more than just quantitative teaching methods.

“In Engineering there can be a split between the hard sciences and the soft, which is the part that would be more interested in aspects like ethics. This could translate into a situation where ethical considerations are simply a box to tick. Ultimately to me a surveyor doing their job ethically is doing their job properly,” he says.

In an effort to encourage his students to explore more creative solutions Motala doesn’t shy away from discussions about race, religion, class and even the Fees Must Fall debate. Additionally creative avenues like history, art and a deliberate focus on Africa makes his students relate to one another in completely innovative ways.

“It is unfortunate that our local students will often be able to point out New York or London but not Benin or other African countries, this has presented an opportunity for foreign African students to take the lead in class,” he says.

Motala, along with two other winners, Drs Mark Marais and Muhammed Nakhooda, will also be recognised at an Institutional Teaching and Learning Awards ceremony event next week.

Written by Lauren Kansley
Tel: +27 21 953 8646
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Liaises with the media and writes press releases about interesting developments at CPUT.

Today CPUT Acting Vice-Chancellor Dr John Volmink accepted an R8 million donation from Absa Bank toward student funding.

Using a combination of academic performance and financial need CPUT’s Financial Aid office has identified 267 qualifying students and will disburse the funds after a verification process has been completed. Many of the qualifying students either have very limited financial resources or fall within the “missing middle” category of students whose parents or guardians can only afford to pay a portion of the required university fees.

Volmink says the donation does not just affect the lucky students but their extended families as well.
“You must take the students you are helping then multiply it by thousands because you are creating thousands of opportunities and in fact you will never really be able to calculate the true cost because what Absa is doing is helping to break the cycle of poverty,” he says.   
“CPUT attracts rural, economically challenged students who are bright. These students desire the same things that other more affluent students want but what they need most is support both emotionally and financially. That is what you are doing here today.”

The donation forms part of Barclays Africa Group’s 2017 CEO Scholarship Fund which aims to disburse R210 million which will impact around 3 000 university students across the continent. Absa Africa Head of Citizenship Sazini Mojapelo says The CEO Scholarship Fund grew exponentially since its inception in 2016 when it was only expected to affect around 200 students.
“When we saw the Fees Must Fall movement we realised that as a large corporate it was important to answer the call to action. We increased the scholarship programme from 200 to 2000 students and this year we expanded it to 3000 across the continent,” she says.

In 2017 the fund expanded to include the peer to peer mentoring programme Elevate Education which, through a series of workshops, equips students with the skills to not only survive university but to thrive too.

Written by Lauren Kansley
Tel: +27 21 953 8646
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Liaises with the media and writes press releases about interesting developments at CPUT.