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University of South Africa - UNISA

 
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Incognito



Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 23

PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 9:07 pm    Post subject: University of South Africa - UNISA Reply with quote

Does anyone have any information regarding this university in terms of degree quality?

I would like to eventually pursue a PhD and this institution is reasonably priced - almost too good to be true in fact.

However, I have done a little research and there is nothing to indicate that UNISA is a degree mill.

Any information will be highly appreciated.
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tambok17



Joined: 01 Jul 2009
Posts: 23

PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I asked them about the online degree- they replied once and then I'd never heard from them. They probably do not need money.
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 12:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Why post on the Saudi Forum ?
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 2:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

scot47 wrote:
Why post on the Saudi Forum ?
Perhaps because this is the only board that he has ever posted on?

My first thought was that considering how holders of South African passports are treated like second class citizens by education employers in the Gulf, it may not be considered a big plus to have a distance MA from them on your CV.

But this is pure speculation on my part...

VS
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Pikgitina



Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 420
Location: KSA

PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 5:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

veiledsentiments wrote:
My first thought was that considering how holders of South African passports are treated like second class citizens by education employers in the Gulf, it may not be considered a big plus to have a distance MA from them on your CV.

But this is pure speculation on my part...

VS


Are holders of South African passports treated like second class citizens by education employers in the Gulf? I don't have a lot of experience in the region, but my first thought would be no.

A poster on the UAE forum described South Africans as "poor things" and "yes men/women". The poster did mention the reason for their obsequiousness as an apparent desire to hold onto their jobs no matter what. All of this was mentioned in the context of some highly disreputable Emirati schools.

I'm not sure how many of the posters here are South African and I don't know how many EFL teachers from other parts of the world (who also post here) actually understand the South African context.

The entire context cannot be gone through in a single post I'd imagine, but here's how I see it:

- Some SA teachers are well-qualified to teach in our own public schools, but feel the need to leave SA for better opportunities. It is possible that many of these teachers come from bilingual Afrikaans-English communities, but the Afrikaans and English spoken in these communities are not identical to the standard varieties of these languages. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but may be disadvantageous, and is rooted in SA's divided past, history and politics. These teachers may or may not have some exposure to EFL teaching/training. It is also this group who may be subjected to discrimination or be treated as 2nd-class citizens, so to speak. They may be desperate, under-qualified and may not be near native speakers. The linguistic shortcomings will often be discernible in pronunciation, concord errors (probably Afrikaans' interference) and a lack of sophisticated vocabulary and writing skills. Their receptive skills, at least, will be native-speaker like.

- Others are native English speakers and possibly even more well qualified than the above group, but might still lack specific EFL training. If they are teaching content courses in international schools or tertiary institutions, this does not really matter of course.

- Another group may be found in English language schools, especially in Cape Town (as this city is the major tourist magnet), and these are often younger teachers, in their 20s or 30s. These teachers may or may not be univeristy qualified (but many of them are), but they have all the EFL training that most teachers in language schools around the globe have.

- Out of this third group, a small but growing number are waking up to doors that DELTAs and MAs can open. Herein lies a problem: only one school (in Johannesburg) currently offers the DELTA. Apparently, it often doesn't get enough candidates to justify actually running the course. MAs in EFL are rare, but MAs in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics are available, but they are often only available through on-campus programmes. As many of us know, it can be very difficult to return to full-time study once one has started working.

- For those who have the legitimate training and experience, there should be no need for discrimination. In my experience, this does not really happen.

- Having a distance MA from a SA uni on your CV will do you no harm. Top Gulf unis and colleges accept degrees from Thailand and other places that may at times be suspect. But, I am open to correction here.

- At least one, if not two, SA universities rank amongst the world's top 200. Even if they just manage to screech in Cool.

- UNISA is not a degree mill. If its students are willing to study off campus and work hard, the degrees obtained here are as valid as most from other universities around the world. Here I mean ordinary, good universities - not the top of the top of the top. Laughing I don't know more about UNISA than this.

I'm open to others correcting/adding to this. But from my life thus far Cool, this is how I have come to see it.
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Cleopatra



Joined: 28 Jun 2003
Posts: 3657
Location: Tuamago Archipelago

PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 8:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:

A poster on the UAE forum described South Africans as "poor things" and "yes men/women". The poster did mention the reason for their obsequiousness as an apparent desire to hold onto their jobs no matter what.


To be honest, this is also the stereotype you hear about South African teachers in KSA too. I'm not saying it is or is not justified, just that you do hear it a lot.


Quote:
Having a distance MA from a SA uni on your CV will do you no harm.


Actually, it might. It's not so much the fact that it's from an 'SA uni' as the fact that it's by distance learning that might be a problem. Many employers/ministries in KSA and the rest of the Gulf refuse to accept any degree done by distance learning.
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Stephen Jones



Joined: 21 Feb 2003
Posts: 4124

PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 7:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had a colleague at Jubail who did his Masters through Unisa. Seemed quite impressed.

The thing to remember is that many places don't accept distance degrees.
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