08 September 2023
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Story André Damons
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Photo Supplied
Monica Coetzee, Vonani Nkanyani, Charmaine Oosthuizen, and Peggy Mangalliso will represent the University of the Free State (UFS) and its School of Nursing at the national heats of the WorldSkills competition.
Four students from the
School of Nursing at the University of the Free State (UFS) will represent the institution and the school at the national heats of the
WorldSkills competition – a global competition in which 95 countries are affiliated.
This year was the first time that the UFS participated in the competition. On 18 and 20 July, Kealeboha Mokoena (second year), Monica Coetzee (second year), Vonani Nkanyani (third year), Charmaine Oosthuizen (second year), and Peggy Mangalliso (third year), participated in the local Health and Social Care section of the competition on the Bloemfontein Campus. They all advanced to the provincial heats, which took place at the end of last month; unfortunately, Mokoena withdrew from the competition.
Dr Jeanette Sebaeng, Head of the School of Nursing, says WorldSkills – founded in 1950 – is a global organisation that promotes vocational, technological, and service-oriented education and training. The competition is coordinated in South Africa by the
Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) in collaboration with SETAs, focusing on different skillsets. The nursing students fall within the Health and Social Science skill, which only started in 2022, while the other skills have been part of the competition since 1990. The competition takes place in four phases referred to as the heats. The inclusion criteria state that you must be a registered nursing student turning 22 in the year in which the international competition will be held.
“With the type of nursing education and training that the school offers, I am confident that our students will perform very well at the national competition,” says Dr Sebaeng.
The assessors included lecturers from the school and moderators from the school’s partners in practice. Two provincial representatives from the
Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority (HWSETA), Zamo Dlamini and Nonkululeko Tondi, and Clayton Peters from the national office were also present. The students will hope for a good provincial showing to qualify for the national heat in September. The best student from the national competition will represent South Africa at the World Competition in September 2024 in Lyon, France.
Anna-Marie Welman and Cilla Fourie from the School of Nursing are continuously involved in the briefing meetings as well as the organisation and preparation of the venues and the students.