From next year, prospective accountancy students who would one day like to qualify as chartered accountants will have the option of studying fully in English or Afrikaans at Stellenbosch University.
The Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences has announced that first-year students who enrol for the B.Accountancy degree in the future, will be able to attend classes in English or Afrikaans throughout their undergraduate and postgraduate honours years of study.
This will be the Faculty’s second undergraduate degree programme that will be offered entirely in both languages. The BCom (Management Sciences) degree has been taught in English and Afrikaans since last year.
The Department of Accounting will from 2014 also be known as the School of Accountancy. The Department has some 1250 undergraduate BAcc students and is by far the biggest in the Faculty.
“Our degree programmes are highly regarded, therefore we attract top students,” Prof Pierre Olivier, chairperson of the Department, said. “Enhancing our language offering will add to this.”
According to him, the Department’s popularity can be ascribed to its successful track record. “Our internal pass rates, highly qualified lecturers and their research outputs bear witness to this, while our former students achieve remarkable results in the qualifying examinations of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA).”
Prof Johann de Villiers, dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, pointed out that the Faculty and the Department of Accounting have produced many prominent South African business leaders and entrepreneurs.
“Some 4 230 undergraduate students are currently enrolled in the Faculty. Of these, 21% is made up of Black, Coloured and Indian students.
“The Faculty takes pride in the fact that student diversity is on the increase from year to year as Stellenbosch becomes more popular amongst these students,” he added
