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20 February 2018 Photo Anja Aucamp
Excited first-years troop to the swimming gala
Students cheer on their peers on at the First-Years’ Swimming Gala.
The first-years were in high spirits, with cheering and chanting that did not fail to brighten the evening. The different residences trooped into the swimming arena burning with a competitive spirit as each of them prepared to back their peers who would be participating in the swimming competitions.

Kovsie Aquatics; the swimming home for KovsieSport, said Veritas led the pack at the gala after scoring a total of 229 points, making them the overall champions for the night. Sonnedou came in second place with 156 points, and Vishuis third with a total of 154 points.

More than anything else, the first-years’ swimming gala is about seeing students come alive. These were the words of Dean of Student Affairs, Pura Mgolombane. He added: “At the event we see students being humanised through sports, and at the end of the day, with healthy competition among them, humanity will emerge.” 

News Archive

UFS shares expertise in Sign Language
2009-05-07

 
The University of the Free State (UFS) is continuing in its commitment to reach out to other universities on the African continent. Mr Philemon Akach (pictured), a senior lecturer in the Department of Afro-Asiatic Studies, Sign Language and Language Practice, recently visited the University of Ghana to share his expertise and assist in the introduction of the Ghanaian Sign Language (GSL) as an academic course in that institution. The course will first be piloted as an “elective course” and if successful it will be a permanent feature of the University of Ghana's calendar.

Mr Akach has been instrumental in the development of GSL since the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) sent him on a fact-finding mission regarding the education of deaf children in Ghana in 1993. Since then he has trained interpreters as well as parents and teachers of deaf children in Ghana in using the South African Sign Language multimedia grammar teaching materials. He has also guided the GSL Dictionary Project. The University of Ghana will use his books as the basis for the teaching of the GSL. This session was a follow-up to the one he had with that university in February this year.

The UFS is widely regarded as a beacon of light in the teaching of sign language on the continent and, together with the University of Witwatersrand, are the only universities in South Africa that offer sign language as an academic course.
Photo: Mangaliso Radebe

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