[PART 2] Where there is a ‘WIL’ there is a way

The University of South Africa (Unisa) is a dedicated open and distance learning (ODL) institution of higher learning, which offers as one of its qualifications, an undergraduate diploma in nature conservation.

However, by offering an academic qualification which aims to prepare its graduates for the conservation sector, the university faces specific challenges on how to address the conservation sectors’ employment requirements.

The conservation sector is very practically oriented, often of a physical nature and generally all conservation actions take place in the field and far away from the ‘office’.

Thus the conservation is very vocational by nature and requires its potential employees to be suitably skilled and experienced.

It is for this reason that Unisa follows a blended approach for its undergraduate diploma in nature conservation.

The qualification consists of a combination of course work (theory) provided through ODL, practical contact sessions and work-integrated learning (WIL) modules.

Through its blended teaching and learning approach, Unisa ensures that both theory and practical aspects are instilled in its future graduates and in so doing addressing the conservation sector employment requirements.

For many students, studies in nature conservation are a formidable task, especially when they are required to secure their own placements within the conservation sector and to secure a suitable mentor to guide them through their WIL studies.

Thus, it is essential for all students to engage and pass their WIL modules if they wish to graduate and to seek gainful employment.

For many, this requirement is a huge academic and personal hurdle. However, eleven years ago, Unisa and the Oppenheimer family agreed to provide struggling WIL students an opportunity to travel to, stay, learn and gain conservation related skills and experience on the Telperion Nature Reserve. The value of this partnership, for nature conservation undergraduate students, over the past eleven years was revisited on October 25.

On the day, both current and alumni WIL students, who benefited directly from the Unisa-Telperion partnership, shared their experiences with members of the Oppenheimer Family, their guests and high ranking academics from the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, School of Ecological and Human Sustainability.

The programme on the day, begun with an introductory presentation setting the context for the day by showing how the facilities, provided by the Oppenheimer family have changed focus and grown under the partnership to support nature conservation students needing to gain very specific skills and experiences.

Directly thereafter, a presentation was given that introduced the inner workings of the nature conservation diploma and in particular how the WIL modules are offered and how are they supported through the partnership.

At this point, the current WIL students were given the opportunity to provide their perspective on studying at Unisa and in particular the nature conservation diploma.

Their objective was to highlight the favourable affordances they received from visiting and working on Telperion.

The day of presentation was then ended off with the reflections of past Telperion WIL students and how the partnership enabled them to pass the qualification and ultimately form their future conservation careers.

Besides the formal presentations, the WIL students and alumni, spent the two days prior to the event, preparing formal exhibits and displays which highlighted many of the aspects of their studies on Telperion.

This included displays on eco-bricks, bottle top and bread tag collections, fire-fighting, herbarium work, anti-poaching patrols, alien plant clearing and a large environmental education project entitled, the Threatened Traveller Project, which currently focuses on rhinos and rhino conservation.

All in the entire event was well received and was more a motivation for the WIL students who participated in the event.

A suggestion was made that similar events should be planned and hosted by Unisa and Telperion with the aim of sharing the experiences and learning which has taken place on Telperion and through the partnership over the past eleven years.

The WIL academics, current and past WIL students wish to thank the Oppenheimer family and the Telperion Management for their unwavering support for Undergraduate Nature Conservation WIL students.