Ready to prepare young people for the world of work, Pearson Institute of Higher Education – a British owned education and publishing powerhouse – has opened in the heart of uMhlanga
Are you familiar with the X-kit study guides? How about Platinum textbooks? These Pearson education products are probably in your child’s backpack or classroom because Pearson has been part of the South African primary and secondary education journey for many years. Now, Pearson is excited to showcase their 12 private higher education institutions in South Africa, including a campus in uMhlanga.
In South Africa, Pearson is home to Maskew Miller Longman and Heinemann, two of the best-known names in South African publishing, and leaders in the provision of print materials and CAPS approved textbooks.
As part of the company’s organic growth in the direct delivery of learning, Pearson South Africa has acquired the Pearson Institute of Higher Education (PIHE) – formerly known as Midrand Graduate Institute – and CTI Education Group. Today this group has 12 campuses, over 8 000 students, and 35 different nationalities represented across South Africa.
On our doorstep, the uMhlanga campus is led by education doyen Andrea Pratten (left), who brings with her a wealth of experience from across the education sector, including NGO, Basic Education and Higher Education proficiency. Andrea was Deputy CEO at the Central Applications Office (CAO), and Chief Operations Officer at Star Schools.
“My target is to provide students with accessible and quality education in order to contribute towards the realisation of the National Development Plan for South Africa,” says Andrea who lives in Durban with her family.
Heading the uMhlanga campus sales department is Bronwyn Holmes. Bronwyn, who has worked in London at Pearson’s headquarters as well as on special projects for Pearson in New York and San Francisco, has extensive knowledge in education technology and innovation.
“I want to improve lives through two avenues – as a Pearson employee and through my passion as a yoga instructor,” says Bronwyn.
The Pearson institute is committed to building successful communities through partnerships across the educational landscape – with ministries of education, academic and industry professionals.
The uMhlanga campus plays host to full-time and part-time lecturers all of whom boast multiple post-graduate qualifications and are industry savvy. It is their “Real World Ready” ethos that has allowed the institute to make accessible to students professional visits from DVT, Derivco, Mr Price and Bowline Security – where some of their alumni now work. PIHE is also linked to professional bodies such as ACCA, CIMA and ICB.
Conveniently located north of Gateway in New Town Centre, the campus is situated next to major transport links, restaurants, shops, gyms and yoga studios, and is a mere six-minute drive from the beautiful coastline and beaches of uMhlanga. The campus shuttle runs daily from the Durban city centre, with various pick-up points en route to campus.
The campus offers:
- A new building with two floors of large, freshly painted lecture rooms, with lots of natural light.
- A new-year and mid-year intake.
- IT labs equipped with resources ideal for the bourgeoning techie professional.
- All examinations are written on campus and the access controlled facilities are monitored by 24/7 camera surveillance and foot patrol.
- Recreational activities include an outdoor games and seating area aptly named by their students as “The Turf” which hosts their student experience events every Tuesday.
- On-site canteen serving tasty food at student-friendly prices.
- A resource centre housing a wealth of books and computer stations.
- An employability centre, ensuring soon-to-be graduates are taught job interview skills and how to network with prospective employees making them “Real World Ready”.
uMhlanga Campus, 1D uMhlanga Boulevard, New Town Centre
031 941 3800
COURSES INCLUDE
- Commerce & Law: BCOM (General); BCOM (Accounting);
- BCOM (Law); Higher Certificate in Business Management.
- Humanities: Bachelor of Arts (English & Psychology), for those interested in teaching, psychology, speech therapy and communication-specific careers.
- Applied Sciences: Bachelor of Science in Information Technology; Higher Certificate in Information Systems Engineering; Higher Certificate in Information Systems Network Engineering; Higher Certificate in Information Systems Internet Development; Higher Certificate in Information Systems Software Development; Higher Certificate in Information Systems Cyber Security; Higher Certificate in Information Data Analytics; Higher Certificate in Information Cloud Computing; Higher Certificate in Information Machine Learning; Higher Certificate in Information Robotics.
- Short learning programmes for professionals.