The visit by UMP to BUAN follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two universities in 2023, aimed at fostering collaboration across several domains, with student exchange programmes being a key feature of the agreement.
The MoU aligns with broader continental goals, particularly the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which promotes regional integration and cooperation for economic and social development. The collaboration is seen as a crucial step toward achieving these objectives, providing opportunities for student leaders to exchange governance ideas and learn from each other's experiences.
At UMP, student governance is a priority, with structured systems in place to ensure students have an effective voice in representing their interests. Similarly, BUAN's Student Representative Council (SRC) engages in numerous initiatives, including fundraising, due to its limited budget. This visit enabled UMP’s student leaders to gain insights into BUAN’s approaches and identify strategies for enhancing their own activities.
"The visit enhanced the knowledge and skills of our CRC/SRC members, particularly in understanding good practices in student governance," said Mr Joseph Mokoatala, Manager of Student Governance and Development at UMP. He added that UMP’s student leadership had learned valuable fundraising strategies and other governance-related matters from BUAN.
The visit is intended to assist students from both institutions to exchange ideas to improve their leadership skills.
While BUAN is a smaller institution, the MoU has provided opportunities for them to learn from UMP’s more advanced operational processes. According to Mr Mokoatala, the visit also included team-building exercises, which helped students from both institutions to better understand each other, further strengthening engagement.
During the visit, several areas of collaboration were explored, including:
- Roles, responsibilities, and governance structures;
- Benefits and incentives for student leaders;
- Activities within the respective Plan of Action (POA) of the two SRCs;
- Student policies;
- The formation and funding of student societies; and
- Sustainable community engagement initiatives led by students.
This initiative is seen as a stepping stone for the exchange of ideas between the two institutions. While student governance was a focus of the visit, academic collaboration, particularly for students studying agriculture, was also highlighted as an area that would benefit from future exchange programmes.
For many UMP students, this was their first experience at a university outside South Africa’s borders. The discussions and idea exchanges have paved the way for future collaboration, to nurture a transparent, focused, and inclusive culture of student governance.
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