Mr Londani Tshindane proved that hard work and dedication pay when he became the overall best student for the 2018 academic year during the Annual Vice-Chancellor's Student Academic Excellence Awards of the University of Venda (Univen) held at the university auditorium last Wednesday.
He walked away with R18 000, which he intends to use for purchasing study material and added that he always wanted to be the best student. "This will help me to improve and achieve my new aspiration of winning the Senate Medallion when I graduate," he said.
He said one of the challenges he encountered during his academic journey was staying off-campus, which limited his access to the Internet and other facilities.
The Director for the Centre for Higher Education Teaching and Learning, Prof Nancy Mutshaeni, said in 2011 the student senate proposed to Senate that annual academic excellence awards should be instituted for undergraduate students at all levels. "Since 2013 to date, this has been an annual ceremony," she added.
Mutshaeni indicated that the purpose of these awards was to encourage students to work hard in achieving their goal, which was to pass with higher marks for them to be employable. "The awards also aim to promote a culture of teaching and learning in the schools through competition for the awards," she added.
Mutshaeni also said the award recipients deserved to be praised for having devoted most of their time to their studies.