Local and international students of the Durban University of Technology had only good experiences to share about their time in the University during a recent student seminar held at the institution’s ML Sultan Campus.

The seminar was organised by DUT’s International Education and Partnerships (IEP) office together with the office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic. It was aimed at discovering the different kinds of experiences both international and local students had at DUT.

“We want to hear how your experiences were here at DUT, including our hospitality to you as students. We need you to share these so that we can learn and see where we can improve on the courses we offer and courses you believe should be offered,” said Dr Delysia Timm, Advisor: Special Projects in the office of the DVC: Academic. She added that this will contribute towards the institution’s curriculum renewal project as well as the development of general modules.

The seminar was attended by third-year students from the DUT Dental Science Department as well as exchange students from Germany and France. The students were unanimous in their sentiments, saying that although there were challenges at the campuses, the University had afforded them beneficial experiences.

Julian Remmert, a Marketing Retail student from Baden Württemberg Co-Operative State University (DHBW) in Germany said, “We enjoyed studying here, it was a wonderful experience. The lecturers were so friendly and accessible and so were the students. I would recommend DUT to anyone because of the great time we had.”

Students from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Industries Textiles (ENSAIT) in France echoed Remmert’s sentiments adding that the University helped them improve their English language skills. During their period here, the French students said they also learnt about the history and culture of South Africa.

Third-year Dental Science students Signey Ngema and Nkosinamandla Mnyaliti praised the institution for its state of the art facilities.

Dr Timm said these seminars will continue to be held in order to find new ideas on how to improve the University’s curriculum.

– Nkosinathi Wanda

Caption: (L-R) Charlotte Crozet, Fanny Markl, Malo Meloux and Michael Bencteux.