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05 January 2018 Photo Elrieka van Dalen
UFS congratulates Free State on matric results
With projects like the Internet Broadcast Project and the Schools Partnership Project, the UFS helps to improve education at schools in the Free State.

The University of the Free State (UFS) congratulates the Free State and its learners on their outstanding performance in the 2017 matric results. The university, which also plays a role in promoting excellence at school level, is proud of the Free State’s achievement as the best-performing province in the country with an 86,1% pass rate, excluding progressed learners.

“On behalf of the executive management, staff, and students of the UFS, I would like to extend our warmest congratulations to the Free State MEC of Education and his executive team in the Department of Education in the Free State, on being the top-achieving province in South Africa for the second consecutive year," said Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, in a message sent to Mr Tate Makgoe, MEC of Education in the Free State Province.

He further said, "The UFS is proud to be associated with the Department of Education and salutes them for the many initiatives in schools across the province, which contributed to this year’s outstanding matric results. Some of these projects include those presented in conjunction with the university’s South Campus, such as the Internet Broadcast Project (IBP), the Schools Partnership Project (SPP), and training programmes for school principals."

Internet Broadcast Project

The UFS IDEAS Lab in the Department of Open and Distance Learning on the UFS South Campus is supporting learners in 89 schools through the IBP. Daily, the IBP transmits lessons to 83 schools spread across five districts in the Free State for learners in Grades 8 to 12. Learners also have electronic access to this material, which is presented for more than 15 school subjects. The project is a collaboration between the university and the Free State Department of Education. It includes support for subjects such as Mathematics, Physical Science, Life Science, Economics, Accounting, and Geography.

Schools Partnership Project

The SPP focuses on teachers in order to have a more sustainable impact, with 69 schools in the Free State and Eastern Cape benefiting from it. It makes use of a total of 30 mentors who assist teachers and headmasters with school management, Mathematics, Physical Science, Accounting, and English as language of learning. Mentors visit schools and share knowledge, extra material, and technology to improve the standard of teaching. Matric results and Bachelor’s pass rates have improved dramatically in these schools.

Another aspect is the identification of learners with potential to go to university (so-called first-generation students). They are assisted through extra classes and in applying for tertiary education and bursaries. Many of them currently study at the UFS, and also receive mentorship here.

News Archive

Expansion to Physics building officially opened on Bloemfontein Campus
2016-05-06

Description: New Physics building Tags: New Physics building

The newly-opened addition to the Physics Building on the Bloemfontein Campus.
Photo: Charl Devenish

An extension to the Department of Physics at the University of the Free State (UFS) was officially opened on the Bloemfontein Campus on 20 April 2016.

“This started off about five years ago when we were talking about not having enough room for large classes. Prof Matie Hoffman suggested that we build a large lecture room on our parking space,” said Prof Hendrik Swart, Professor in the Department of Physics as he addressed guests at the official opening ceremony.

“A year later, we received a Sarchi Research Chair [South African Research Chairs Initiative] on Advanced and Luminescent Materials. We needed more office and laboratory space. The two ideas were combined and presented to the university’s senior management,” he added.

When the university was founded in 1904, Prof James Lyle was appointed to head up the Physics and Chemistry departments. Five years later, a single room was allocated for the Physics laboratory in the main building upon its completion. In 1947, the old Physics building was designed and constructed. Fast forward 69 years, the department has reached another milestone. Facilities accommodated by the expansion include a new telescope for astrophysics experiments, a basement for storing old equipment, as well as a sliding trap door which allows heavy goods to be elevated into the building from the ground floor. The telescope is one of the many unique features of the building given its capacity to expose graduate students to the basic techniques of radio astronomy, especially in light of the fact that the SKA (Square Kilometre Array) project which is in progress.

“Our department is extremely strong at this stage, and a bright future lies ahead,” said Prof Koos Terblans, the Head of Department. The opening also served to celebrate the 103 publications achieved by the department last year.

Dr Lis Lange, Vice-Rector: Academic is proud of the heights reached by the department to date. “The Department of Physics is undoubtedly one of the jewels in the crown of our university, and we are very proud of its developments. Universities are built on legacies, and they are also about change, which is what this department has been demonstrating.”

The expansions to the building with its top-class facilities, was constructed at a cost of R25 million – an infrastructure grant courtesy of the Department of Higher Education and Training.

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