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Feb 2016
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Lead Article
I Hoofartikel
F
urthermore, many black
African learners who
choose veterinary science
often indicate it as their
second choice
–
an
insurance policy in case they are not
successful in their first choice
–
and
when offered a place, do not actually
register. In 2015, for example, places
were offered to 67 black African
applicants but only 45 registered.
Many veterinarians have a strong
desire to invest in veterinary students
or potential students. They willingly
spend time and effort in allowing
learners or students to see practice
with them; they take the message
into schools or, through their work,
inform and educate communities.
The Faculty seeks to match the need
of the country with this willingness
of the profession in order to realise
a vision: a countrywide system of
practices “adopting” selected, gifted
learners and with the assistance of
state veterinarians and the Faculty,
mentoring them through their last
years at school, helping them in
applying for veterinary science and
thereafter, through their studies at UP.
Funding has been obtained from
the Health and Welfare Sector
Education and Training Authority
(HWSETA) to run a two-year pilot and
a workshop was recently held with
representatives of the profession to
see how best to deliver on such a
vision.
The proposed pilot consists of the
following:
1. Ten veterinary practices, targeting
ten schools from across the
country and differing in education
standard and income, will be
Investing in the Future:
Adopt-A-School
Pilot Project
Prof Darrell Abernethy, BVSc, MSSc, PhD
Dean, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria
It is essential for the future of the veterinary profession in
South Africa that black learners, particularly from rural areas,
apply to study veterinary science. The Faculty has made
significant progress in recruiting black students with a record
number present in 2015 - 55% of BVSc I as at October
2015. However, there is a widespread belief that many black
African learners are unaware of the profession and of the work
undertaken by veterinarians. Together with limited exposure to
animals in their school curriculum, this results in relatively few
learners applying for animal-related courses at university.
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