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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

UFS Faculty of Theology hosts expert on African Traditional Religion (ATR)
2016-05-20

Description: African Traditional Religion Tags: African Traditional Religion

Dr Nokuzola Mndende, Prof Fanie Snyman (Dean of the Faculty of Theology), and Dr Luvuyo Ntombana (Department Head: Religion Studies)

Dr Nokuzola Mndende, an acclaimed theologian, researcher, and practitioner of African Traditional Religion (ATR), is often called upon in the media to offer her expert opinion or participate in interfaith panel discussions. Thanks to an initiative from the postgraduate diploma class in the Faculty of Theology and the efforts of Dr Luvuyo Ntombana (Department Head: Religion Studies; Faculty of Theology), Dr Mndende accepted an invitation to present her paper, “From the periphery to the centre: African Traditional Religion in a democratic state”, on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS). In his opening remarks, Dr Ntombana stated that he was heartened by his students’ desire to be “co-workers in knowledge production” by engaging with Dr Mndende.

Dr Mndende’s contention is that African Traditional Religion (ATR) was suppressed throughout colonial times, and, despite a 22-year-old democracy, continues to be moved to “beyond the periphery” by what she terms “spiritual subsets”; those who strive to amalgamate their African Traditional Religion rituals with the practices of Christianity. Quoting statistics from a 1995 survey by the SABC, she stated that ATR is a minority in its birthplace (with only 5% representation), and posed the question: “If ATR is a minority in its place of birth, where is it a majority?” Her presentation put forward the need to study and interpret ATR introspectively, but acknowledged that more “homework” would be needed in this regard.

Dr Mndende thanked the university, Dr Ntombana, and the Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Prof Fanie Snyman, for inviting her, and expressed a desire for the relationship with the UFS to continue.

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