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#KovsiesCare: UFS takes lead in online adult learning

14 August 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Valentino Ndaba

To thrive in the future, employees need a skill set and mindset that constantly adapts to the fast rate of change. In line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the University of the Free State (UFS) is the first higher education institution to introduce online adult learning.

Digitised learning

Eva Stinani is one of 17 staff members who is currently enrolled for the Adult-Based Education and Training (ABET) Programme through the Department of Human Resources (HR). For Stinani, the programme is gearing her up for better career prospects. “I have come to realise that obtaining a school qualification is important as this will enable me to improve my performance in my work.”

A further 29 staff members are enrolled for the Amended Senior Certificate (ASC). Since its introduction at UFS late last year, the most popular subject stream in the certificate is Business Studies. According to Juanita Burjins, Head: Leadership & Development Division (HR), this “prepares learners to think like business and management-oriented individuals”.

All lessons are conducted online in a computer lab on the Bloemfontein Campus. Plans are under way to roll out these programmes to the South and Qwaqwa campuses. The Leadership and Development Division helps learners to register with the Independent Exam Board (IEB) and uMalusi.

Enhancing livelihoods

The Integrated Transformation Plan (ITP) speaks to a staff culture punctuated with high performance and impartiality across the board. According to the ITP, “the future will be “one of excellence and diversity”.

Burjins’s team envisions “maximising the potential of the staff through the acquisition of knowledge and skills, therefore encouraging them to work productively and competitively in order to achieve an improving quality of life”.

Building bridges and breaking barriers

The online adult learning programme provides staff members with the opportunity to enter higher education institutions and become gainfully employed in the world of work.

Nelson Mandela once said: “No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated.” Echoing this sentiment, Kovsies is making strides towards developing the country, one citizen at a time.

News Archive

Reflection should stimulate action – Prof Petersen

2017-05-25

Panellists at a discussion held by the Institute for
Reconciliation and Social Justice were, from the left,
Prof Elelwani Ramugondo of the University of Cape Town,
Prof Melissa Steyn from Wits, Prof Francis Petersen,
Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS, and SK Luwaca,
president of the Student Representative Council on the
Bloemfontein Campus.
Photo: Johan Roux

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The University of the Free State (UFS) should be a place of belonging, a place where staff, academics and students belong and can make a contribution to a democratic society.

This is according to Prof Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS. He was one of four panellists at a discussion, titled Diversity, inclusivity and social justice and the renewed call for decolonisation, hosted by the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice (IRSJ). Prof Elelwani Ramugondo from the University of Cape Town, Prof Melissa Steyn from Wits, and SK Luwaca, president of the Student Representative Council on the Bloemfontein Campus, were the other panellists.

The IRSJ facilitated the discussion, which formed part of the inauguration proceedings for Prof Petersen as new Vice-Chancellor and Rector, in the Albert Wessels Auditorium on the Bloemfontein Campus on 18 May 2017.

Renewed thinking about decolonisation
Prof Steyn said: “We can develop our vocabulary to understand our real differences.” She noted that we are all part of reproducing, resisting and reframing the current order.

Universities should be a place where questions can be asked, Prof Ramugondo said. She elaborated on the term decolonisation, saying we needed to investigate how we related and reflected on it, mentioning the myths that surrounded the term. “We should renew our thinking [about decolonisation] at universities,” she said.

“We can develop our vocabulary
to understand our real differences.”

What does a transformed UFS look like?
According to Luwaca unity isn’t something that can be faked, but everybody should work towards it, building a rainbow nation together. It is important for everyone to be on the same page: “We have to ask ourselves what a transformed university looks like.”

Prof Petersen said it was important to often pause and reflect: “Reflection should stimulate action. Reflection is not something without action.”

After the discussion, a lively question-and-answer session with the panellists took place. Prof André Keet, director of the IRSJ and facilitator of the discussion, suggested the gathering should be the start of many similar engagements.

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