Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
29 June 2018 Photo Stephen Collett
Learners at youth dialogue encouraged to know their human rights
learners presented their insights on human rights issues.


Youth Day was celebrated on 16 June 2018, and as part of the celebrations, the Free State Department of Education, the Free State Centre for Human Rights, and the Faculty of Law at the University of the Free State (UFS) presented a learner dialogue for 160 Representative Council of Learners from Wepener, Dewetsdorp, Ladybrand, Thaba Nchu, Botshabelo and Bloemfontein to address the challenges they face at their schools and in the country at large. The dialogue took place on 19 June 2018 at the UFS Bloemfontein Campus. 

The Dean of the Faculty of Law, Prof John Mubangizi, on welcoming the learners, teachers and representatives of the Department of Education and other guests said: “It is a great honour to have future leaders here, and possible future students of the UFS. I invite you to come and study in the Faculty of Law and look forward to welcoming some of you in the near future.”

Youth encouraged to participate positively
The focus of the dialogue was on children’s rights, their needs and vulnerabilities, and their right to participate in all matters that concern them. It was also a platform for the learners to express what they saw as important challenges, how they are affected, and possible solutions. The Director of the Free State Centre for Human Rights, Prof Danie Brand, led an interactive session with learners, discussing basic human rights as contained in the South African Constitution.
 
“Human rights are what you are born with and do not need to be negotiated. These are rights such as the right to housing, food, education and healthcare,” he said. 

Outcomes of dialogue could influence policy decisions
The one-day dialogue session had learners from different schools interacting with each other. They presented their final deliberations to the officials present, including the District Director of the Department of Education, Mr December Moloi, Prof Brand, Prof Mubangizi, senior lecturer in Public Law at UFS, Dr Mariette Reyneke, and others. Mr Moloi encouraged learners to continue to set a good example to their peers amid challenges they faced at schools, such as gangsterism. “The ideas you share today are important to the department, because these will help create solutions to some of the problems we face in schools and could inform future education policy formation,” he said.

The event was sponsored by Old Mutual which gave the learners a presentation on life skills, such as financial management and budgeting, to encourage them to manage their money in a responsible way as future leaders, and to support their parents’ efforts at providing for them and their education. 

News Archive

Planetarium now open to the public
2013-11-27

The Naval Hill Planetarium

The Naval Hill Planetarium, the first digital planetarium in sub-Saharan Africa, will now screen regular shows and is inviting members of the public to attend shows every Friday from 29 November 2013.

This planetarium was inaugurated on Friday 1 November 2013 and the response has been overwhelming.

Prof Matie Hoffmann from the Department of Physics at the University of the Free State, says the public and visitors in Bloemfontein are very eager to visit the planetarium to learn more about the night sky.

The highly-rated full dome show, Space Junk, will be screened on Friday 29 November 2013 and Friday 6 December 2013 at the Naval Hill Planetarium.

The Space Junk show at the planetarium collides head-on with Gravity, the blockbuster science-fiction thriller and space drama that was on circuit in movie theatres in South Africa during the past few weeks!

In 2014 the planetarium will provide a regular public programme as from 13 January 2014.

In the meantime, people can book for programmes on Friday evenings at 19:00 until Friday 13 December. Group appointments can also be made by special arrangement.

For more information please contact Yolandie Loots at ficky@ufs.ac.za for more information.

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept