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25 April 2019 | Story Mamosa Makaya

Since 2016, the University of the Free State Center for Universal Access and Disability Support (CUADS) has received a grant from First National Bank worth R2 498 000, which supports tertiary bursaries for students with disabilities. Bursary holders are funded through CUADS, as the administrator of the bursaries.
  
These are students enrolled for various academic programmes who require academic assistance and/or assistive devices such as electronic handheld magnifiers, laptops, and hearing aids. The FNB grant also covers tuition, accommodation, study material and books, and meals.  The success of the grant is already evident, with one of the recipients having graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in December 2018. A second student was capped at the April 2019 graduations with a BSc Honours in Quantity Surveying.
 
Supporting the principles of the ITP

The UFS received the grant from FNB in instalments, starting in the 2016 academic year to date, supporting the needs of 40 disabled students. This grant and the work of CUADS speaks to and supports the principles of the Integrated Transformation Plan (ITP), namely inclusivity, transformation, and diversity. The vision of the Universal Access work stream is to enable the UFS to create an environment where students with disabilities can experience all aspects of student life equal to their non-disabled peers. The ITP provides for the recognition of the rights of people with disabilities as an important lesson in social justice and an opportunity to reinforce university values.

The successful administration of the grant to benefit past and present students is a ‘feather in the cap’ of CUADS, and is a shining example of the impact of public private investment and the endless possibilities that open up when there is a commitment to developing future leaders in academic spaces, allowing them to thrive by creating a learning environment that is welcoming and empowering. 



News Archive

UFS student shows what a business plan should look like
2012-04-25

 

Zandile Mabizela and Dr Johan Coetzee
Photo: Leatitia Pienaar
24 April 2012

A business plan presented by Zandile Mabizela, a B.Com. Honours student in Financial Economics and Investment Management at the University of the Free State (UFS), was placed second in a competition of the Junior Chamber International (JCI).

The JCI is a worldwide non-political and non-sectarian youth service organisation with the aim and purpose of creating positive changes in the world.

In the JCI SA Best Business Plan Competition ten finalists gave presentations at the Anglo American Head Offices and the Mag+ Business Plan that Zandile presented was placed second overall at an awards ceremony in Sandton.

Her lecturer, Dr Johan Coetzee, says the remarkable feature of this achievement is that the proposal made by Zandile was the only business concept by a student among the top five. The remaining finalists are all operational businesses that are managed by entrepreneurs in the field.

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