Master of Education candidate Mr Luthando Molefe was the only Black student in UKZN’s Bachelor of Education Honours Class of 2020 to achieve a summa cum laude pass!

Molefe, who received his honours degree at UKZN’s 2021 autumn graduation, passed all seven modules – including the independent research project – with marks of over 75% and was awarded four Certificates of Merit, putting him top of the class for those modules.

Said Molefe: ‘I am delighted. The achievement is the reward for many hours of hard work and dedication I invested in my books and research. It is also a result of the huge support I received from many people, mostly academics at UKZN’s School of Education.’

Molefe was named among UKZN’s Top 40 Most Inspiring Students in 2017, 2018 and 2019/2020 for academic excellence, community engagement/outreach and leadership skills in the various roles he performs.

He holds more than 67 Certificates of Excellence for his outstanding and exceptional work in the above categories and has also received national and international awards and accolades.

Molefe has represented UKZN and South Africa at the Young African Leaders Initiative-Regional Leadership Centre-Southern Africa (YALI-RCL-SA) and was part of the study tour for teachers in training exchange programme that took place in Berlin, Germany, in 2018.

Supervisor for his master’s degree and his former Bachelor of Education Honours lecturer, Professor Kathleen Pithouse-Morgan, congratulated him saying: ‘Mr Luthando Molefe has an outstanding academic and extracurricular record. He has won numerous awards for his academic achievements and his community leadership initiatives. Mr Molefe shows initiative, is consistently hard working and is a creative and critical thinker. He also goes out his way to support his fellow students. He is an asset to the Teacher Development Studies Masters in Education programme and has a bright future in educational research.’

Molefe was recently named as one of the TOP 21 Outstanding Young Persons for 2021 by the Junior Chamber International South Africa.