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22 May 2018 Photo Supplied
Gosego Moroka recipient of the 2017 Abe Bailey Travel Bursary
Gosego Moroka, recipient of the 2017 Abe Bailey Travel Bursary.
Gosego Moroka, who employs an epitome of un-conventionalism towards his preferred tastes in life, represented the University of the Free State (UFS) on the Abe Bailey Travel Bursary tour in the UK in December 2017. He, alongside 16 other candidates from various tertiary institutions in South Africa, took heed of this opportunity of a lifetime.

The Abe Bailey Trust is a prestigious bursary awarded to young South Africans that focuses on leadership development. Trustees award bursaries to persons with a strong academic record who have shown exceptional qualities of leadership and service to their designated tertiary institutions. “I am someone who is ultracompetitive, and I always look to improve and challenge myself,” said final-year LLB Law student and 2017 UFS-Abe Bailey candidate, Gosego.

Gosego has represented the UFS in Amsterdam, in collaboration with the F1 Leadership for Change programme. He also formed part of the Global Leadership Summit, the University Scholars Leadership Symposium at the United Nations in Bangkok, Thailand, and served as the Community Service Director for the Golden Key – UFS Chapter, and developed and led the Mandela Day Community Service Project. 

Gosego’s tour with fellow bursary holders kicked off in Cape Town, where they visited Robben Island. They then travelled to Ethiopia, and visited the African Union, which he described as “state of the art.” Their next destination saw them in London where he visited the Houses of Parliament, as well as Westminster Abbey. Gosego attended plays including Matilda, and The Lion King, which he deemed culturally significant. The city of Bath, however, stood out as the highlight of his trip. He described it as the most exquisite place on earth. Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s birthplace was also on their list of adventures. The group then travelled to Scotland where they toured Edinburgh, which Gosego described as one of the coldest places he had ever visited.

Gosego encourages students to be as genuine as possible when applying for the award. He also added that a big part of success as an individual results from who you surround yourself with. He further urges aspiring ‘Abes’ to mix with people who affirm their dreams.

News Archive

UFS sets trend for higher education institutions
2005-09-21

The University of the Free State (UFS) offers more service-learning courses than any other higher education institution in the country and has the highest number of students enrolled for these service-learning courses.

This was the research findings on higher education institutions conducted between 2001 and 2004 by the Joint Education Trust (JET) into service-learning courses. These are courses which seek to integrate service to the community into the academic core of higher education institutions.

The results of this research indicated that the UFS is one of the few higher education institutions in South Africa that have made progress in integrating community engagement into the mainstream academy.

According to the findings 2 233 students at the UFS participated in service-learning courses supported by JET, while 858 students at the University of Transkei (UNITRA), 636 students at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and only 600 students at the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) participated in service-learning courses.

In total there were 6 930 students participating in service learning courses supported by the JET at 10 institutions throughout the country.

The research also found that out of a total of 182 service-learning courses supported by JET countrywide, the UFS had the highest number of such courses at 42, followed by WITS with 28, the University of Kwazulu Natal with 26, UWC 24 and UNITRA with 22.

Nationally, most of the service-learning courses at higher education institutions are offered in the human sciences (62), followed by health sciences (37), education (26), agriculture (14), and economic sciences (11).

According to leading academics, service-learning is a credit-bearing, educational exercise in which students participate in an organised service activity that meets identified community needs and helps the student to gain a deeper understanding of course content and a sense of civic responsibility.

Reacting to the research findings, the Rector and Vice-chancellor of the UFS, Prof Frederick Fourie, said the university feels strongly that there should be integration of service-learning into the academic core of the institution.

“Through service-learning modules the UFS can give expression to its role of service to the community as an institution of higher learning, producing quality graduates who understand the communities in which they will have to function for the rest of their lives,” Prof Fourie said.

According to Mr Jo Lazarus, the project manager of the Community-Higher Education – Service Partnership (CHESP), which falls under the JET, a number of institutions have identified community engagement as a strategic priority and have allocated significant resources from their central budget towards its implementation.

Mr Lazarus said most students have an overwhelmingly positive attitude towards service learning.

“A large percentage of students surveyed indicated that their service-learning course helped to improve their relationship skills, leadership skills and project planning abilities. As significant is the fact that these courses also benefited them in terms of their awareness of cultural differences and opened their eyes about their own cultural stereotypes,” said Mr Lazarus.

“The key challenge still hampering the integration of service-learning as a core function of academic activity is that some institutions still see service-learning as an add-on, and nice-to-have activity,” he said.

According to Mr Lazarus higher education must demonstrate social responsibility and commitment to the common good by making available expertise and infrastructure for service-learning as a form of community engagement.

Media release
Issued by:  Lacea Loader
   Media Representative
   Tel:  (051) 401-2584
   Cell:  083 645 2454
   E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
   20 September 2005

 

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