This year, for the first time ever, Belgium Campus iTversity will see deaf students graduating with their Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) degree.

Johannebsurg 10 May 2023 - In a South African first, six deaf IT students are graduating this Friday 12 May from Belgium Campus iTversity NPC each with a three-year Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) degree. The latter tertiary institution has taken responsibility to be an important catalyst in the growth and development of students with disabilities and students from previously disadvantaged backgrounds.

“We collaborate with the industry to provide these students with the financial support necessary to forge successful futures through higher education,” says Dr Elaine van Wyk, Chief Marketing Officer at Belgium Campus, which is a well-established and renowned South African-based private higher education institution. The institution has campuses in Pretoria, Kempton Park, and a newly opened campus in Stellenbosch.

The caliber of students the institution provides allows them to boast a 100% graduate employment rate and provide no fewer than 8% of the ICT graduates in South Africa. The six deaf graduating students are:

• Admar Claassen (29) from Bougainville, Paarl
• Nkululeko Lekokoane (29) from Soweto
• Violen Moonee (27) from Darnall in KwaZulu Natal
• Yazeed Moosa (29) from Portlands in Western Cape
• Sieshane Perumal (27) from Westville, KwaZulu Natal
• Trevolin Pillay (23) from Chatsworth, KwaZulu Natal

Five of the graduates were sponsored by Liberty, with Tirisano sponsoring the sixth. The six students who will be graduating previously completed the institution’s Diploma in Information Technology before returning to further their studies. 

“We are the first higher education institution in the country to offer a dedicated bachelor’s degree and IT diploma for deaf students. We have also made provision to allow students with other disabilities, long-term medical conditions, or special needs to complete their IT studies with us. This allows us to breathe life into the tremendous talents and business concepts of often marginalised groups within society.”

Belgium Campus is also currently developing a technical deaf dictionary – which will further open the doors to deaf students entering the IT economy.

Van Wyk explains that the institute was established in 1999 to address South Africa’s widening skills gap and to ensure that all graduates would be employable in an evolving economic environment, “by nurturing the IT industry’s next great minds”.

For 23 years, Belgium Campus iTversity has contributed to the growth of the South African economy by providing well-rounded graduates whose knowledge, skills, and attitudes make them future-fit and immediately employable. It has been affording deaf students the opportunity to pursue IT qualifications since 2015, at which time the institution only had eight deaf students. The institution’s deaf community continues to grow and today they are proud to have over 30 deaf students pursuing qualifications with them. 

“Our success stems from our adoption of a proactive Participative Development Model of Education. It considers the needs of all stakeholders (students, industry, academia, government, and society), resulting in demand-driven, student-centred, and business-focused higher learning.”

Belgium Campus believes everyone should receive an equal opportunity to pursue their dreams and ambitions. The institution makes these courses accessible to deaf students by providing SASL (South Africa Sign Language) interpreters throughout each course and limiting the class sizes to ensure each student gets dedicated time and attention.

ABOUT BELGIUM CAMPUS ITVERSITY NPC

Belgium Campus is a South Africa-based pioneering ITversity in South Africa that helps raise the bar in private education in the ICT industry. Their focus is on developing leading qualifications and maintaining impeccable academic standards for students provide them with the foundations necessary to excel in the Information Technology industry. Well-established and renowned, it has campuses in Pretoria, Kempton Park, and a newly opened campus in Stellenbosch. Its success stems from a Participative Development Model of Education which accounts for the needs of students, industry, academia, government, and society alike, resulting in demand-driven, student-centred, and business-focused higher learning.

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF BELGIUM CAMPUS ITVERSITY NPC

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