Central University of Technology’s Coordinator for Internationalisation at Home Projects, Sekoele Ramajoe recently participated in the Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies (DIES) “Management of Internationalisation” training course offered by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) and University of Potsdam, in cooperation with University of Venda and the University of the Free State.

Ramajoe was selected on a competitive basis by a committee of experts in the field of internationalisation, and is proud to represent the university. “I feel like ‘a CUT above the rest’ and very fortunate that I was selected to represent CUT. This means a lot to me as an emerging internationalisation manager who would like to further contribute to the internationalisation of higher education in South Africa,” said Ramajoe.

The first training took place from 01 to 03 March 2022, with the key objective of the course being to qualify university staff from selected universities, to manage processes and tasks of internationalisation in higher education. The course encompasses different units that offer a balance between conceptual learning components: practice-oriented training, management skills as well as soft skills. Each participant is required to develop and work on an internationalisation project that is linked to their position and institutional goals.

“The training has helped me learn how to build improved and more effective structures and procedures for implementing an internationalisation project at CUT. Working together with internationalisation practitioners from selected universities has allowed me to learn more about the best practices that I can apply to projects I work on,” he added.

As a result, Ramajoe’s proposed project is Global Connect which is an internationalisation at home initiative that aims to respond to the 2020 Policy framework for the Internationalisation of Higher Education in South Africa, which states that “Higher education institutions must provide an alternative mode of internationalisation that can overcome the limitations inherent in international mobility schemes that remain accessible to a minority of students”.

Ramajoe’s virtual exchanges (VE) projects bring students, staff, and partners from other universities to work together on projects using digital technologies. “Virtual exchanges have great potential for our students to foster graduate attributes and to have 21st-century employability skills. These include digital literacy, communication skills, global awareness, teamwork, critical and analytical thinking, foreign language skills and intercultural competencies,” added Ramajoe.

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 Sekoele Ramajoe, CUT’s Coordinator for Internationalisation at Home Projects in the Centre for Global Engagement has been selected to partake in the Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies (DIED) Programme.