By Nontobeko Moimane 11 May 2022

Ms Claudia Durant: SACE registered educator at the Fundamental Faculty school and Dr Karien du Bruyn: Information Specialist at the VUT Gold Fields Library

The strategic goal of the Gold Fields Library at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) is to reinforce network engagement programmes at the institution.

To achieve this objective, Dr Karien du Bruyn, an Information Specialist at the VUT Gold Fields Library, reached out to the Fundamental Faculty School in Vereeniging to discuss the improvement of future writers/authors.

According to Dr du Bruyn, the project aims to develop young children to become confident writers. “There seems to be an over-emphasis on Mathematics and Science competency in schools, whereas good writing skills are crucial in almost every profession nowadays”, she said.

The stakeholders involved in the project agreed to launch the collaborative venture in May 2022. Instructors will cooperate with the VUT Gold Fields library to discover vital capabilities to begin developing students – mainly in Higher Education context – to become future top writers.

“The latter is of essential significance in each career and is immediately aligned with Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning. The empowering and guidance of younger kids to become top writers is considered a critical endeavour, mainly with many college students enrolled in Higher Education going through demanding situations with educational writing capabilities,” stated Dr du Bruyn.

The Fundamental Faculty school became an appropriate partner because the complete cohort of teachers is certified and registered with the South African Council of Educators (SACE).

Teachers are also expected to be constantly abreast with new trends in coaching and learning.

Dr du Bruyn is excited to be associated with the innovative management style followed by the school, which could ensure creative information literacy services in future for children around the Vaal Triangle. Ms Claudia Durant: SACE registered educator at the Fundamental Faculty school, is also excited to be part of this project and has offered her full support to make this initiative a success.

About Dr du Bruyn

Dr du Bruyn has been working as an Information Specialist in the Gold Fields library at VUT for the past 28 years and is pioneering a community engagement project to develop young writers.

She obtained her PhD (Information Sciences) from the University of Pretoria in 2017.