UCT the place to be for international students

Beat to the same rhythm: Drum Café's Linda Ntshinga leads UCT's latest batch of international students in drumming chorus.

On Monday, 5 February, the International Academic Programmes Office (IAPO) welcomed its first batch of semester-abroad and exchange students to UCT for 2007.

The group of 410 from 12 countries is the largest yet. That's partly thanks to a spike in students from the US, where there's a growing trend to make international experience a core part of the curriculum, explains IAPO's Lara Hoffenberg.

But credit must go to UCT as well. 'It's also a word-of-mouth thing,' says Hoffenberg, 'so the more satisfied customers we send home, the more applicants result.'

Drumming lessons from the Drum Café has become a feature of IAPO's welcome to these students, giving them a feel for local sounds and culture.

On Monday, locals like Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Njabulo S Ndebele; Deputy Vice-Chancellor Prof Thandabantu Nhlapo; and executive director of student affairs, Moonira Khan, joined in for the fun. UCT has some 4 000 international students.