A private further education and training (FET) college, Thekwini City in Thohoyandou, held a welcoming ceremony for new students and gave awards to those who had excelled previously in different faculties during an event at Muledane River Crossing lodge on Friday.
The awards were for the best disciplined student of the year, sports person of the year and special awards, sponsored by the Department of Justice, for law students.
The college opened its campus in Thohoyandou in 2017 and wanted students to know each other outside the classroom environment, said the campus manager, Mr Mukumbareza Tamanda.
"The awards for the best law students were 10 laptops as well as full tuition bursaries. Through these awards, we want to encourage our students to take education seriously."
Tamanda said the event was organised so the students might interact, socialize and know each other.
Mr Shandukani Madima, the station manager for Choice FM in Thohoyandou, was invited to motivate the new students and said every student could perform well, no matter what their backgrounds were. "If you work hard during the year, it will finally pay off," said Madima.
A student who received a laptop and a full tuition bursary from the Department of Justice, Ms Thizwilondi Maswanganyi, said she was thankful for the award, as it would help her to perform better. She is a public management N4 student and said she came from a poor family that was struggling to pay tuition fees for her.