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Kweku flies Kovsie flag high at Universität Bremen

20 December 2019 Photo Shaari Rai Poken

It all started with the Umoja Buddy Programme (UBP). Kweku Gavor was a UBP ambassador when he met exchange students from Germany. Two years later, the roles were reversed. “Helping out students who later have become my really good friends opened up the opportunity for me to study abroad in Germany.” he said.

Kweku spent about four months as part of a pilot Summer Lab Programme at Universität Bremen after being nominated for a scholarship by the German Academic Exchange Service, which his former Umoja buddies helped create. He shared the experience with eight other students from Palestine, Poland, Ukraine, and the US. The focus was on Business Studies, Marketing and Economics.

According to the BCom graduate, studying internationally gave him new insights. “The experience opened my mind and better-equipped me to work in situations in which I need to handle a lot of pressure against the clock.”

The first leg of the programme featured corresponding modules presented in a classroom environment, which were integrated with assignments, presentations, tests and exams. This was supplemented by a language course that involved cultural leadership training. Another crucial part of the Summer Lab Programme was an internship where students were placed with companies and tasked with a problem-solving project. Kweku was placed at Fabular Ai, an artificial intelligence company which designs computer software.

“Going to study abroad is an extremely rare and fantastic opportunity I advise all who can to grab it with both hands,” said Kweku, who also used the opportunity to travel all over Europe.

Internationalisation at home with Umoja

The UBP, which is collaboratively run by the UFS Office for International Affairs and Student Affairs, played a big part in Kweku being given the opportunity to study abroad. However, unlike him, not all students have to the opportunity to engage in undergraduate exchanges.

The UBP is part of the university’s efforts to advance internationalisation at home, as anchored in the UFS Strategic Plan: 2018-2022. With the programme, students are able to receive an international experience on home ground.

The programme aims to connect international and local students through meaningful lifelong friendships and foster their academic, social and cultural integration. It pairs first-entry international students with senior Kovsies who provide a warm, welcoming, friendly face, and a helping hand.

Expression of interest sought

A total of 48 ambassadors were enrolled in 2019. To join the UBP in 2020, contact Sonya Kapfumvuti at KapfumvutiSCR@ufs.ac.za or call her on 051 401 3397.

News Archive

Projects of the South Campus inspire excellence

2014-12-18

The University of the Free State’s (UFS’s) South Campus in Bloemfontein runs several projects to make a difference in the lives of learners and educators in the central region. These projects are based on the very essence of the UFS – to ‘inspire excellence, change lives’.

Three projects which have been very successful since the outset are the UFS Schools Partnership Project, the Family Math and Family Science Project and the Internet Broadcast Project.

The Schools Partnership Project attempts to empower teachers by improving their teaching skills in critical Gr 10 – Gr 12 subjects (Physical Science, Mathematics and Accounting).

Poorly performing schools are invited to join in the programme. A mentor, providing guidance to teachers in the planning of lessons, transferring knowledge and creating a healthy learning environment in the classroom, is assigned to each subject teacher. Management and leadership skills are also improved.

Hercules Dreyer, Programme Manager, says the success of the programme can be seen in the lessons, the results and the progress which have been made.

“In 2013, the pass rate of participating schools has grown from 71.5% to 85%. We had an increase in donors and the project went from 22 schools with 12 mentors in 2013 to 72 schools and 34 mentors in 2015.”

The UFS Family Math and Family Science Project, which is already in its sixth year of existence, are extremely popular. This intervention programme focus on bringing about a better understanding of Mathematics and Science in learners, teachers and parents.

Dr Cobus van Breda, Programme Director of the Family Math and Family Science Project, says that judging by the feedback from teachers, it is evident that the programme is growing from strength to strength and that it is making a real difference in Mathematics and Science education in the early school years.

The UFS’s Internet Broadcast Project (IBP) has thus far received four awards for their successes. In this project, lessons in Mathematics, Accounting and Physical Science are broadcasted from the UFS’s South Campus through internet presentations to schools in rural areas.

“To date, the IBP catalogue contains over 2 000 video lessons and in 2013 alone, the 68 schools accessed and used these videos 69 305 times. The project has the potential to reach more than 40 000 learners and 1 765 teachers every week,” says Sarietjie Musgrave, Project Manager.

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