The University of Pretoria (UP) is a prestigious institution to study at, and it is ranked as one of the best on the African continent. “I always believed that a good education changes the mindset of people, and that it is a powerful tool to uplift yourself and to make changes, not just in your own household, but also in your community,” says UP alumna Carto Abrams-Swarts.

Carto, who got her MPhil Communication Management qualification in 2019, is a Senior Administrative Officer in the Department of Business Management of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS), specifically affiliated with the Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership. She is the mother of three boys who also obtained their qualifications at UP. Christopher obtained his Bachelor of Information Sciences in 2017, and Cameron is set to graduate with a Bachelor of Information Science (Honours) degree in May. He is currently pursuing a Postgraduate Diploma in Investigative and Forensic Auditing. Carlo, who completed a Baccalaureus Artium in Law in 2018, is doing his final year LLB.

“The University of Pretoria is an internationally recognised institution. Tuks alumni stand out in the world and this is exactly what I wanted for my boys,” says Carto.

Choosing to study at UP was an obvious choice for the Swartses who hail from Eersterust in Pretoria, approximately 17 kilometres from UP. “My children matriculated from Pretoria Boys High, so UP was the obvious choice, it was their choice to study at UP. It is also very convenient for us because I work here, we travel together, and we study together. My boys worked extremely hard to be able to get accepted at UP, it is not easy to get accepted if your marks are not right, and I wanted them to study at one of the best institutions in South Africa,” Carto adds.

She admits that it has not been smooth sailing as they experience challenges along the way. Carto says studying and running a household is a challenge on its own. She also lost a lot of good friends because she was always busy. But at the end of the day, one has to sacrifice certain things if they want to succeed.

Carto’s sister-in-law, Samantha Rabie, also obtained an MPhil Communications at UP in 2019. She says her greatest challenge was studying while being a wife and mother. The struggle was trying to find a balance between work, family and studies. Rabie put in a lot of time in the evenings and weekends to ensure that her academic work was up to date, however, she is glad to have studied at UP because she has been exposed to people from different backgrounds. The exposure created great networking opportunities, plus she made new friends.

Rabie says UP is one of the leading research institutions in Africa. Though not number one in South Africa, it is safe to say that it is the only university with a veterinary sciences faculty. UP’s Law Faculty is number one in Africa and the accounting department in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences is also ranked very highly in SA.

Carlo says one cannot study Law at any other institution than UP. “It is the best in Africa. Ultimately, as a family coming from an underprivileged community that is completely under-represented at UP, we hope to inspire the youth of Eersterust through education, so that we can uplift our community,” he says.