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Indians vie for SA top woman award
Ramjee has been nominated in science and technology category, while Vandeyar's name is on education list.
Two South African Indians are among the 21 nominees for the Shoprite Checkers/SABC 2 Woman of the Year 2006 award.
While Gita Ramjee has been nominated in the science and technology category, Saloshna Vandeyar's name is on the education list.
The awards were instituted in 1996 to celebrate the achievements of women in South Africa in various fields.
The winner will be named on August 9 - South Africa's National Women's Day.
The only South African Indian to win this award is Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan, an internationally recognised palaeobiologist. She won it in 2005.
Ramjee, a mother of two, is a leading scientist and has done pioneering research to find a woman-controlled HIV prevention method known as microbicides. She is the only scientist in the world doing five clinical trials for HIV prevention.
According to the award's website, the impact of the research on the community is enormous. She has established a unit of 245 staff and runs eight clinics in and around Durban.
"Women visiting the clinics to volunteer for these trials receive voluntary HIV testing and counselling (VCT), treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), safe sex and condom counselling as well as education about HIV/AIDS, nutrition and care for HIV positive individuals," the website stated.
Speaking to the Post, an ethnic Indian newspaper, Ramjee, who is a professor at the Medical Research Council, said, "I feel absolutely honoured to be recognised among women who are doing good work in South Africa."
Vandeyar is a senior lecturer in Department of Curriculum Studies at the University of Pretoria.
She has been nominated for her research on "best practice" in teaching at multiracial schools in South Africa.
This project, according to the award website, is designed to identify practices that are innovative, effective and ideal in school environments that are characterised by diverse learner populations.
The findings are expected to help improve the state of teaching practice in South Africa through sharing and dissemination.
Vandeyar is also involved in a complementary study that makes an important contribution in understanding the transformations that are taking place in South African education environment and in promoting greater social cohesion.
Apart from science and technology and education, the other categories in which nominees are named are arts, culture and communication, business entrepreneurship, health, social welfare, and sport.
