[lg policy] UKZN student receives GradStar Top 100 award

[Harold Schiffman]

 UKZN student receives GradStar Top 100 award
GradStar is a mentorship programme that annually recognises South Africa’s
top students, who display leadership qualities and readiness for the
workplace.
1 day ago
Sana Jeewa received an award at an official ceremony held for the top
GradStar students, at the Indaba Hotel in Johannesburg, recently.

University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) PhD Linguistics student, Sana Jeewa,
said she feels confident about her future after making it as a GradStar Top
100 student for 2018.

GradStar is a mentorship programme that annually recognises South Africa’s
top students, who display leadership qualities and readiness for the
workplace.

Jeewa underwent a rigorous judging process before she was selected over
thousands of hopefuls around the country.

Jeewa said she believes the recognition will give her an edge over her
peers.

“I enjoyed the programme, interacted with students from many different
universities, and also connected with potential employers,” she said.

Each top student was connected with a successful business mentor, to
further prepare them for the workplace.

Jeewa, who was the only linguistics scholar in the programme, is passionate
about language development in SA, saying that not all eleven official
languages are receiving the consideration deserved.

ALSO READ: UKZN’s oldest graduate feels young at heart
<https://risingsunoverport.co.za/59609/ukzns-oldest-graduate-feels-young-heart/>

“Equality in languages needs to be realised in South Africa,” she said.

A strong advocate for the introduction of inclusive language policies at
more universities in the country, Jeewa said, “UKZN’s introduction of
isiZulu as a compulsory module is an example of an inclusive language
policy that gives due recognition to the predominant language (isiZulu) in
KZN.”

Her PhD study investigates language repertoires and identities among high
school pupils in KZN.

She is conducting her research in predominantly Indian communities with a
focus on variants of “SA Indian English”, exploring how language can shape
identities.

“Often we find that our accents, the way we speak is determined by the
communities where we grew up, and this plays a big part in helping shape
our identities,” said Jeewa.

She is also interested in how the language variants have changed over the
decades, since Indians first arrived in Natal in 1860.

GradStar entries co-ordinator, Ms Khululwa Tom said  the country needs more
young people like Jeewa.

“This is the second year that Sana has been chosen to be in the Top100,
which proves that she has a star quality about her. She is very passionate
about her studies and has a “can do” attitude. She also has a passion for
helping others which she shows through tutoring and motivating younger
students to fulfil their potential and achieve their own dreams,” she said.


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 Harold F. Schiffman

Professor Emeritus of
 Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
Dept. of South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305

Phone:  (215) 898-7475
Fax:  (215) 573-2138

Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

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