The Durban University of Technology’s (DUT) Co-operative Education hosted a farewell lunch on Friday, 26 July 2019 for three Thai students from the Kasetsart University in Thailand, at Sastri College.

Ananya Srisai, Suracha Thansrichai and Phusanisa Tosak, who are Industrial Engineering students, were part of the exchange programme between DUT and Kasetsart University. The students arrived in South Africa on 28 May 2019 to complete their Work Integrated Learning (WIL) for a period of two months, as part of their curriculum.

In his address, Mr Shakeel, Director of DUT Co-Operative Education said “It is nice to see more Thai Students joining us here at DUT. It was good to have the three female Industrial Engineering students because we are still battling to get more women in the Engineering Department here in South Africa,” he said.

Dr Thabede Campus Director (Midlands), said “To our lovely guests, you have experienced Durban hospitality. We hate goodbyes, we love hello’s, so it sad that you are now leaving us. Once you have graduated consider relocating to South Africa especially Durban, consider making it your future homes,” he said.

He further highlighted that the world is too small and these exchange programmes are extremely significant. “It’s important that we do this cross pollination. The future is in your hands young people, you will have to shape it longer once we have left and live a good legacy,” he stressed.

Speaking about their experience, Thansrichai said she had learnt a lot from WIL. “We now know how to communicate with different people in the workplace. One of the challenges we had encountered was the language barrier between us and those that we were working with which sometimes led to miscommunication. However, we tried working hand in hand to complete the tasks that we were given. We thank DUT for this great opportunity because we were able to explore new things,” she said happily.

Pictured: The three Thai Students from Kasetsart University.

Nomkhuleko Thutshini