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09 April 2018 Photo Supplied
CGAS awards second AS scholarship Chetima Melchisedek
Chètima Melchisedek is the recipient of the UFS/AS Young African Scholarship is planning a visit to the UFS Centre for Gender and Africa Studies in 2019.
Chétima Melchisedek from the University of Ottawa, Canada, has been awarded the 2018 UFS/AS Young African Scholarship. “An award like the UFS/AS Young African Scholar is a great accomplishment for a young scholar,” said Chétima.

Melchisedek is the 2018 Gordon F Henderson Fellow at the Human Rights Research and Education Centre at the University of Ottawa and is affiliated  with the University of Maroua in Cameroon. “I am also very happy and honoured to be affiliated to the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies (CGAS) at the UFS. To be able to work with the university is a privilege I am delighted to receive.”

He says the disciplines within Africa studies should be researched by Africans from the continent. “My aim was also to be able to share my knowledge through publications in established journals. In fact, today, this is the only way to be recognised as an authoritative voice on African studies from Africa,” he said.

Scholarship provides platform to young researchers 
The Young African Scholar Award is an initiative by the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies. It seeks to strengthen efforts to promote internationally recognised African scholarship within Africa Studies.   

The programme provides young researchers the platform to publish their work and to build an international network with organisations such as the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA), the German African Studies Association (Vereinigung von Afrikanisten in Deutschland/VAD), and the UFS Centre for Gender and Africa Studies.

“The award is given to the best, publishable research article contribution by an emerging African scholar to the prestigious African Spectrum journal,” said Dr Stephanie Cawood, Acting Director of CGAS. The prerequisite for the award is that applicants must be from Africa or affiliated with African institutions.  

As part of the prize, the winner receives a three-year affiliation as research fellow with the UFS GGAS and prize money of R5000.

News Archive

Success of Schools Partnership Programme embodies essence of UFS
2016-01-04

Description: Schools Partnership programme Tags: Schools Partnership programme

The everyday function and subsequent success of the SPP have come to embody the very essence of the UFS: inspiring excellence; transforming lives.

Addressing the urgent need for quality education at school level, the University of the Free State (UFS) established the Schools Partnership Project (SPP) in 2012. The aim of the project has been to turn ineffective schools into institutions producing outstanding results, thereby increasing the number and quality of first-year students at the UFS.

Within three years, the SPP has grown to include 68 primary and secondary schools across the Free State and the Sterkspruit area in the Eastern Cape. The programme is headed by Dr Peet Venter and run from the UFS South Campus. Expert mentors assist teachers and principals at these schools on a weekly basis, helping them to excel at their core functions. The programme’s success has been phenomenal.

Learner results from the SPP schools show a marked improvement compared to previous years. Teachers report that they have gained a broader understanding of the subjects they teach. “The university is doing a great job with this programme,” says one of the teachers. “We have developed a lot. We really appreciate this partnership.” Teachers not only gain substantial expertise in areas of planning, presentation, and subject knowledge; an increasing number of them have been receiving promotions, too.

The principals experience similar positive results, and regard the SPP as a productive contribution to their schools. The project has also established closer cooperation between principals and schools. This enables them to achieve common goals, share knowledge, and deal with challenges together.

An added spin-off of the programme has been the increased involvement of parents and care-givers. “We experience much more involvement from the community,” says mentor Danie Nieuwenhuizen. Parents start to take it upon themselves to tidy school grounds, care for vegetable gardens, and prepare food at school feeding schemes. Even the Sustained Silent Reading programme – that supplies magazines to learners – is now having an impact on households and communities. Many homes have never had magazines or other reading material before the reading programme.

The everyday function and subsequent success of the SPP have come to embody the very essence of the UFS: inspiring excellence; transforming lives.

 

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