How accounting students within the Thuthuka Bursary Fund perceive academic support offered at one South African university

Abstract

Recent academic performance of students in their chartered accountancy professional examinations has been under scrutiny by the business community in South Africa, especially examination performance amongst Black, Coloured and Indian (BCI) students (SAICA 2019a; Ryan 2019). Noting the importance of preparing higher education students for future professional examinations, this study focused on Thuthuka Bursary Fund (TBF) students in accounting. The study participants were all from BCI groups whilst the study aimed to gain insight into TBF students' perceptions regarding the value of two academic support structures. These structures involved additional tutorials, only offered to TBF students and individual learning program sessions, offered to all accounting students. The study aimed to understand the support format required to equip students to better prepare for examinations. Student perceptions were analysed to identify those aspects which could potentially make the offered support structures more conducive to the learning needs of students. Understanding student perceptions about the effectiveness of academic support is critical in promoting the study success of students and meeting their learning objectives. The study found that certain aspects of academic support are judged to positively contribute to students' learning, while others can be improved upon. Students seem to prefer smaller support class sizes, language-specific facilitators, support classes being scheduled during normal class hours instead of after hours, an emphasis on exam writing techniques and, to a lesser extent, course content being covered. The findings suggest more regular student feedback about the academic support offered which could result in revisions to existing support structures. Such revisions might contribute to better assistance to students, potentially increasing their performance-also in continued professional learning after graduation.

Reflecting on why transformation students in a comprehensive bursary programme may be academically unsuccessful

“…With specific reference to the Thuthuka bursary programme, Barac (2015) notes that socioeconomically disadvantaged students, such as those on the programme may require specific considerations in the support that they are offered at higher education institutions. Ontong, De Waal and Wentzel (2020) find that providing additional academic support to Thuthuka bursary programme students may require specific tailoring. They note students prefer smaller support classes that are not after hours and are presented by facilitators in their chosen educational language (Ontong et al, 2020).…”

“…Ontong, De Waal and Wentzel (2020) find that providing additional academic support to Thuthuka bursary programme students may require specific tailoring. They note students prefer smaller support classes that are not after hours and are presented by facilitators in their chosen educational language (Ontong et al, 2020). Frans and Rabie (2022), through and evaluative study, note that the Thuthuka bursary programme makes an invaluable contribution to grant students the opportunity to complete their studies.…”

“…Reflecting on why transformation students in a comprehensive bursary programme encouraging the development of consistent study and seeking assistance when any problems are experienced by students, as well as to practise examination techniques Ontong et al, 2020;Frans, 2022). Additionally, all graduates are given the chance to finish their internships at respectable businesses.…”

An examination into the role of a peer academic online mentoring programme during Emergency Remote Teaching at a South African residential university

“…It can thus be argued that the additional support received from the online mentoring program translates in higher student engagement which advances digital transformation within the ERT environment. Furthermore, it can be argued that online mentoring programs can be used as an intervention to advance pass rates, which in return can contribute to transformation within South African Universities (Ontong, De Waal, and Wentzel 2020).…”

Predictors of academic success in postgraduate auditing in the Chartered Accountancy programme at a South African university

“…The authors take cognizance that no single factor can predict the academic success of students. In addition, the authors acknowledge the importance of the holistic development of students and that other nonacademic factors have a significant impact on the prediction of academic success, including the use of open book-assessments in writing examinations (Kruger 2020) as well as the different types of academic support activities (Ontong, Waal and Wentzel 2020). However, for the purposes of this article, the focus will only be on the academic predictors of student success.…”