The Central University of Technology is proud to announce the first cohort of Maccauvlei postgraduate diploma students. The long-standing partnership between the two partners has grown from strength to strength and has seen these matured working groups of driven and eager to learn students from various sectors of the economy in South Africa, including neighbouring countries, graduate successfully over the past nine years. The partners have since renewed their MoU in 2021 and have already registered the first cohort of Postgraduate Diploma candidates into the Human Resource Management programme. Ready to take their skills to the next level and make a meaningful difference in their professional lives across the economic sectors, the group has commenced with their blended and flexible learning mode over five study schools.

In partnership with Maccauvlei Learning Academy (MLA), the Department of Business Management continues to make a meaningful contribution to the professional lives of employees from various sectors.

A fantastic opportunity had arisen as a Postgraduate Diploma (NQF level 8) programme in Human Resource Management has been introduced, and CUT is proud to announce that the first cohort of the Maccauvlei Postgraduate diploma students has been accepted into the programme and have already commenced with their blended and flexible mode of learning over five study schools. The matured working group generally consist of students between the ages of 35 and 55.

Background: A century ago, Anglo American - one of the world’s largest mining companies, founded the Maccauvlei Learning Academy project (MLA). Since its inception, MLA became a Further Education and Training (FET) institution that by law could offer formal programmes of up to NQF level 5. MLA found that several students were on senior management level in their respective companies and needed higher NQF levels to advance their careers and be competitive for possible growth opportunities. Six institutions of higher learning were approached, and CUT won the bid. The partnership dates back to 2012, with the first intake of 89 students registered for the prestigious BTech Human Resources Management programme offered in a blended, flexible learning mode. The selection and admission were made through an intensive Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process to ensure that they were qualified for the NQF level 7 of the programme. The Learning Academy represents a model of partnership that is mutually beneficial to both partners. CUT provides Maccauvlei with more skilled and competent employees, while employees are given an opportunity to hone and enhance their skills in their current positions. The partners have since renewed their momentous partnership in 2021 and successfully graduated 1017 BTech and MTech students to date, with a success pass rate of about 95%. The achievement of graduates from this project is a direct outflow of the successful partnership between the two partners.