To boost the skills base of entrants in the property sector, SAIBPP teamed up with Pareto to sponsor studies of two students – Nthabiseng Makgabo and Thuto Mokoena – who are enrolled for a BSc in Property Studies at Wits University. The bursary programme, which started in 2013, covers full tuition and accommodation, and offers recipients a stipend. Grooming a new generation of property practitioners has long been the goal of SAIBPP.
The idea is to unearth professionals who are knowledgeable and can hold their own ground in the property sector. The Wits academic programme exposes students to up-to-the-minute thinking and trends in property investment and development as well as skills required by property practitioners. In first year, students do a course in Construction Planning and Design, Theory and Practice of Quantity Surveying, Mathematics and Planning for Property Developers.
The idea is to give students exposure to finance and construction elements of the property industry. With each academic year, courses change in nature and scope. By the time they finish the degree and join the property field, graduates should be able to “think independently, creatively and analytically”. The graduates’ career options within the industry are vast – finance and investment, property asset management, letting and leasing of property, property development, valuations, as well as opportunities at all levels in the public and private sector.
It seems then Nthabiseng and Thuto are on the right path to acquiring the right set of skills. Studies are going well for both of them. “I’ve always liked the idea of property and I had always wished to pursue property as a career in one way or the other,” says Nthabiseng, who is in second year. “I just didn’t know how I was going to do it. I initially wanted to do a BCom Accounting degree and then enrol for Honours in Property Studies. When I applied at Wits, the degree had been revamped and so it was the perfect time to start.”
Thuto, on the other hand, was compelled by practical reasons to enrol for the course. “I chose to study this course because there aren’t many people studying it which means it is going to be easier for me to find a job and build a career in the industry,” says Thuto, who is doing first year. “I did not know much about property but Dr Samuel Azasu, the head of the course, gave us information about it. In the end, I fell in love with property.” But how did they hear about SAIBPP’s bursary programme in the first place? Both were already enrolled at Wits when they saw an advert posted on a board at the School of Construction, Economics and Management – the BSc programme falls under the school.
