UCT staff celebrated at certificate ceremony

Smiles all around: Deaf research assistant Roy Priestley (left) of the School of Public Health and Family Medicine with instructor Chris Mtshengu. Priestley received a certificate for completing an Excel course presented by ICTS.

Life changing!

This is how Roy Priestley, a deaf UCT research assistant in the School of Public Health and Family Medicine, described the knowledge he gained from the Excel course he completed through the university's Staff Learning Programme.

Priestley was among the staff who on 29 November received certificates for their hard work in Basic Computer Literacy and various management courses offered by Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and the Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC).

He had special praise for their instructor, Chris Mtshengu of Information and Communication Technology Services (ICTS), adding that it was easy for him and his three deaf colleagues to learn from Mtshengu.

"This skill will improve our lives and it will come in useful when I'm doing research," said Priestley.

Miriam Hoosain, the executive director of Human Resources, acknowledged the time and effort that went into acquiring new skills, highlighting the importance of this annual ceremony as an opportunity to celebrate learning.

"You have taken the time to sharpen your skills and although it is important to do this, what's more important is what you do with the knowledge you have acquired," she stated.

Learning did not take place in a vacuum, she said, adding that "the best learning comes from conversation and engagement with others".