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UFS launches its first-ever Student Toolkit

27 August 2019 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Xolisa Mnukwa

Download the toolkit here

A common question first-time entering first-year students often ask themselves when they come to university, is: ‘How will I deal with the pressure?’

The University of the Free State (UFS) Department of Student Counselling and Development (SCD) – with the vision to promote, enable, and optimise students’ self-direction – has launched the first edition of the Student Toolkit on Friday, 23 August 2019.

The toolkit, which is now available on Blackboard, is intended to assist students in dealing and coping with challenges they face in their personal lives during their period of study at the UFS.

Students will be exposed to a variety of topics, pressing issues, and phenomena that they will encounter on a daily basis in their lives, such as academic and personal challenges, time management, procrastination, goal setting, anxiety, effective studying, stress management, mindful meditation, self-love, loneliness, relationships, sexual orientation, family frustrations, overthinking, death, and suicide.

Present at the launch was the UFS Vice-Rector: Institutional Change, Student Affairs, and Community Engagement, Prof Puleng LenkaBula; the UFS Dean of Student Affairs, Mr Pura Mgolombane; the UFS Director for Student Counselling and Development, Melissa Barnaschone; Counselling Psychologist and compiler of the UFS Student Toolkit: Lize van den Bergh.

In addition, BCom Marketing honours student and poet, Thuthukani Ndlovu, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Next Chapter, Tshepang Mahlatsi, three students who have benefitted from SDC services, delegates from the department, and other affiliated students were all in attendance.

For more information about the Student Toolkit, contact the Department of Student Counselling and Development at scd@ufs.ac.za or call +27 51 401 2853.

News Archive

Marikana and its subsequent economic and political consequences

2013-05-30

Dawie Roodt and Prof Adam Habib
30 May 2013

The Marikana incident is a bitter moment for South Africa's new political establishment; a tragedy on the same scale as Sharpeville and the Soweto massacre.

This is how Prof Adam Habib, Vice-Chancellor and Principal designate of the University of the Witwatersrand, described the sorrow during the CR Swart Memorial Lecture hosted by the Department of Political Studies and Governance.

Speaking on the topic The Post-Marikana landscape in South Africa, Prof Habib and Dawie Roodt, Chief Economist and Director of the Efficient Group, gave their views on the political and economic challenges confronting the country.

Prof Habib, a well-known political commentator, explained to the fully-packed CR Swart Auditorium how this tragedy provoked a national soul-searching.

Referencing from his highly-anticipated book South Africa's Suspended Revolution, Hopes and Prospects, Prof Habib said the difficulty Marikana poses is the challenge of inequality. According to him, inequality is the single biggest challenge of the South African society. He firmly believes that taking responsibility for poverty is a moral necessity. "Addressing poverty is absolutely crucial if we want to be a humane society."

In his presentation, Roodt informed the audience regarding recent data on population growth, unemployment and dependency ratios. These statistics gave an indication of how the country is doing. The economist said the only way to address unemployment, inequality and poverty is through economic growth.

"If we want to do something about inequality, we have to do something about skills – particularly skills for women. We must make it easier for people to get jobs," Roodt emphasised.

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