The Camões-DUT Co-operation Protocol signing ceremony took place at DUT this week (Tuesday, 2 June 2015).

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between DUT and the Camões Institute for Co-operation and Language will allow the offering of Portuguese language courses to DUT students and staff, promote the exchange of students and staff between DUT and universities in Portugal and foster research collaborations among DUT and Portuguese academics and researchers.

The Camões Institute is a public institute with a mission to propose and implement the Portuguese co-operation policy, disseminate the Portuguese language and culture in foreign universities and manage the foreign Portuguese teaching network.

DUT Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Ahmed Bawa, was extremely excited by the partnership, thanking the Portuguese Consul General and his office for bringing this collaboration to fruition. “I think it would be great fun to expand on this collaboration as soon as possible. It will also be a good opportunity to see if we could link with other universities in Mozambique and Maputo. It will also be a good idea to convert IsiZulu to Portuguese,” he said.

Dr António Ricoca Freire, the Ambassador of Portugal in South Africa, said, “I am proud to be here and this is the beginning of a fruitful partnership with the Camões Institute and DUT. It’s only the beginning,” he said.

Dr Freire also added that the partnership was due to the volume of demand for teaching Portuguese in South Africa. “We are teaching Portuguese as a curricular in 27 schools in South Africa and we are teaching Portuguese as an extra-curriculum activity. Promoting the Portuguese language is no longer a problem but actually, we are answering the growing demand to teach the language. Given the volume of demand, the only way to provide it is to provide Portuguese teachers from South Africa. We want to promote Portuguese as a major or as a Master’s study at DUT and let’s see how this proceeds at high level projects,” he said.

DUT is the third university that has signed the MoU .

-Waheeda Peters

Pictured: Professor Ahmed Bawa, DUT Vice-Chancellor and Principal and Dr António Ricoca Freire, the Ambassador of Portugal in South Africa, at the Camoes-DUT Co-operation Protocol signing ceremony.