Varsity College

Varsity College once again achieved excellent results in 2011:

• Overall module pass rate of 80% for The Independent Institute of Education (IIE) Diploma and Higher Certificates.
• A 75% overall module pass rate for the Unisa degrees.
• The Varsity College/Thuthuka/Deloitte bursary students studying towards the Unisa BCompt degree achieved a module pass rate of 98% and a distinction rate of 55%.
• During 2011, Varsity College established an association with The Open University of the United Kingdom that will enable students to obtain international qualifications.  The Open University has recognised the IIE as a degree-awarding institution, specifically granting the IIE BCom and BACC Degrees a General Credit Exemption rating of 240 points towards The Open University’s BA/BSc Honours Open Degree programme. The Open University is a world leader in modern distance learning. It is the largest university in the United Kingdom with more than 250 000 students.

Schools

ADvTECH celebrates its 25^th year as a listed company in 2012. Several brands recently also achieved notable anniversaries:

• Crawford Pre-Primary Village celebrated 25^th years of outstanding service to the community in March 2011.
• The school has been part of the Crawford family for 14 years.
• Abbotts College marked its 40^th year of existence with celebrations involving alumni and teachers at Abbotts College Claremont, which is the brand’s original campus. The function was attended by the founder, Mr Tony Abbott, and the class of 1971, its first cohort.
• Grade 0 children at Junior Colleges Castillian staged a Science Fair in 2011, which will be rolled out to the other campuses. The children were tasked with preparing a scientific experiment and demonstrating it unaided.  The variety and standard of exhibits included volcanic eruptions and solar power projects.
• Trinityhouse’s First Rugby Team reached the Beeld Cup Finals. The team won the Lion Beeld trophy and reached the semi-finals of the interprovincial phase of competition.
• Students from CrawfordSchools™ continued to excel during the year.  Woo-Ju, aged 10, from Crawford Preparatory Sandton won six junior golf championships in 2011. Mohammed Imran Khan, a Grade 10 student at Crawford College North Coast, won the prestigious gold medal for achieving first place in the Schools International Assessment Test (SIAT) conducted by the University of New South Wales in Australia.
• A contingent of students from CrawfordSchools™ and Trinityhouse participated in the International Maths and Science Olympiads in the Philippines in September 2011. Representing South Africa, they were the only Western country represented at this event, showing that the Group’s education is on a par with international benchmarks, especially in Maths and Science which is a field in which South Africa is traditionally considered to be weak. After two days of intensive testing, the South African team achieved an amazing total of nine medals, including two silver and six bronze medals for Science and one bronze medal for Maths.

The Design School Southern Africa (DSSA)

DSSA students recognised by the industry during 2011:

• Third year graphic design students, Vian Roos and Monique Verheem, had their work published in the Ijusi magazine (a Garth Walker production).
• Two second year Fashion Design students, Zelmarie du Preez and Elzabie Meintjies, were selected as regional semi-finalists for the Vodacom Durban July Young Designer Awards.
• Lindiwe Radebe, a third year Interior Design student, was a finalist in the SABS Design Achievers Competition.
• Vian Roos and Michelle Henningse, third year Graphic Design students, were finalists for the 2011 Loerie Awards.
• Farai Chingoka, a third year Fashion Design Student, won fifth place in the SAFW/Vodacom 4U Denim to Dress Student Competition 2011. He was also one of 14 finalists in the SA Fashion Week 2011 student competition.
• Third year Fashion Design students, Farai Chingoka, Marne Nelson, Naomi Wiid, Cecilia Jonker and Gerty Cronje, were given the opportunity to showcase their designs at the Sansui Summer Cup at Turffontein Race Course in November 2011.

Vega

Strong industry recognition for Vega students, graduates and lecturers during 2011:

• Five Gold Loeries, a Craft Gold award, three bronze awards and two Craft certificates in 2011.
• Two silver awards at the Pendoring Awards.
• A Vega graduate was the overall winner of the NCP Photographic Competition.
• A senior photography lecturer from Vega Pretoria, Celeste McKenzie, was awarded a bronze award at The Loupe International Awards with staff also winning a gold award, four silver awards and a bronze award at the Fujifilm Professional Awards.
• The Johannesburg Mayor, Parks Tau, selected eight Vega Johannesburg students to work on his City of Johannesburg Growth and Development Strategy Campaign. This partnership offered students an opportunity to explore creative, strategic, management and leadership aspects of a complex project.
• Another creative team of students produced a four page graphic to illustrate brand events that took place during the first decade of the 21st century. This was published in the History of Brands and Branding: from Groot Constantia to Google, which was launched late in 2011.

IIE

In support of ADvTECH’s resolute focus on quality, the IIE’s higher and further education faculties continued to expand their offerings to serve the growing need for further education. Achievements during the year included:

• Faculty of Applied Humanities: A Bachelor of Arts in Corporate Communications (BACC) and Higher Certificates in both Journalism and Event Management were launched in January 2012. The BACC is a pathway into The Open University’s honours degree.
• Faculty of Business: Two new Diplomas in Commerce, specialising in Business and Marketing respectively, as well as a Bachelor of Commerce degree were launched.
• Faculty of Information Technology: New three year IT Diplomas in Software Development and Network Management as well as new Microsoft certification bundles were rolled out in 2011. Two three year Diplomas in Web Development and Computer Graphic Development as well as higher certificates in Service Support and Business Applications were launched in 2012.
• Faculty of Leisure: Three year Diplomas in Sports Development Management and in Travel and Tourism Management were accredited at HEQF Level 6, and a Higher Certificate in Sports Coaching was accredited.  A number of Short Learning Programmes were also launched.

ADvTECH Resourcing

• Communicate Personnel celebrated 30 years of successful business in the South African recruitment industry.
• Inkokheli HR Appointments launched its second annual HR Salary Survey which was well received by the HR community.
• Network Recruitment opened two new branches, namely Network IT Centurion and Network IT Sunninghill.
• A Communicate Finance branch was opened in Cape Town in April 2011.
• The Working Earth developed and launched its updated electronic recruitment solution, JONTI in the third quarter of 2011.