The University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) global stature and academic robustness have been given a significant boost with it being selected as a finalist for the Global Teaching Excellence Award (GTEA) 2018.

UJ has been selected, along with 17 other institutions, by an international panel of judges as a finalist for the Higher Education Academy’s second Global Teaching Excellence Award. The award, presented in partnership with Times Higher Education, is open to all providers of higher education and attracts entries from around the world. The overall winner will be announced at an award ceremony to be held at The Hub in Edinburgh, Scotland on Wednesday, 18 July 2018.

Svava Bjarnason, chair of the GTEA 2018 judging panel and a former member of the World Bank Education Sector Board, said: “Having chaired the inaugural GTEA judging panel last year, it was an honour to continue in the role in 2018. This year’s entries were of a very high calibre and I congratulate all the 2018 finalists. I’d also like to thank all the institutions that entered; there were some incredibly difficult decisions in selecting the finalists, the Spotlight award winners and the overall winner.”

The criteria used for judging based on value, impact and reach were:

· Excellence in the leadership of teaching and learning

· Excellence in teaching

· Excellence in student support and success

Prof Angina Parekh, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic, UJ pointed out that the University is delighted to be a finalist in the 2018 Global Teaching Excellence Award and as the only university from Africa. “At UJ, our focus is on dislodging and at the same time reinventing university education to develop creativity, innovation, curiosity and critical thinking. Our focus is celebrating our pan-African excellence but pushing the frontiers as we prime our University to stride ahead with the new challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution”.