​Students and staff of the School of Accountancy at Stellenbosch University recently acted as camp leaders and mentors at various development camps for Grade 11 and 12 learners across South Africa.

An initiative of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), week-long development camps are organised annually in cooperation with provincial departments of education, the accounting profession and university representatives with the purpose of improving learners' performance in Mathematics, Science, Accounting and English.

SU Auditing lecturer Prof Riaan Rudman, who visited camps in the Western Cape, Kwazulu-Natal and the northern parts of the country, said, “More than 2 500 Grade 11 and 12 learners attend SAICA's annual development camps."

“Students and staff of the SU School of Accountancy have been involved with these camps for more than a decade. We see it as a way of 'giving back' to the community. Even some of our alumni are involved in providing camp leader training." 

Although the aim of camp leaders is to transfer their knowledge and lessons learnt to the learners, SAICA project manager Ms Betty Abrahams said that the camps also stimulate student leaders to become aware of their personal potential and awaken their awareness of their responsibility as the future leaders of South Africa.

“Learners are taught to step out of their comfort zones and become inspired and empowered to make crucial decisions about their lives and their career paths," she added.

Learners are also offered life skills training and career information to help them make appropriate career choices.

• Photo: Prof Riaan Rudman of the School of Accountancy at Stellenbosch University (far left) and Mr Godfrey Legwale, SAICA Project Manager (far right) are seen here with the top maths and accounting learners of the Mpumalanga Camp Centre.