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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

SA one of the leading countries for female researchers

2014-10-28

South Africa is one of the leading countries for female researchers, with women constituting about 40% of the research field, says Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor.

The Minister made these comments during the Public Lecture of the Faculty of Education on our Bloemfontein Campus on Friday evening 24 October 2014. Minister Pandor urged female students to seize the opportunities in science and technology that has been made available to them since 1994.

"Forty percent of South Africa's researchers are women. Of the 40 000 researchers in universities, science councils and business shown by our latest research and development survey records, nearly half are women. That makes South Africa one of the leading countries for female researchers," said the Minister.

Minister Pandor said that the rights and status of women in South Africa had been greatly advanced since South Africa became a constitutional democracy. "It is well known that better educated women are better for a country's social and economic development," she added.

Minister Pandor pointed out that research skills were some of the most sought-after skills in the world, and encouraged women graduates to start dominating in the research and laboratory fields, where men continue to reign supreme.

"Knowledge and innovation, rather than capital and labour, are the drivers of economic growth in all countries. The current affluence of high-income countries has been massively increased by their investment in science and new technologies."

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