Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
02 July 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Charl Devenish
Dr Ufok Samson-Akpan
A family built on education and entrepreneurship: From left; Dr Ufok Samson-Akpan, Dr Ekaete Benedict, Aniebo Hagan, and Mmedaara Samson-Akpan.
Graduating from the University of the Free State (UFS) is a family affair for the Samson-Akpans. Over a period of 16 years the family have garnered a total of nine qualifications from the UFS. The mother and her five children have among them an undergraduate degree, two honours degrees, two master’s degrees, and two postgraduate diplomas. During the June graduations, they added another master’s degree and a PhD degree to their haul. 

Dr Ufok Samson-Akpan, a specialist family physician and the coordinator of the Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro Student Training Programme, was the first to register at the UFS. She graduated with an MBA degree in Management and Health Care Management   the same day as her first daughter Ekaete Benedict who graduated with a BCom Hons degree in Business Management in 2003. Sixteen years later, on 28 June 2019, the family celebrated another double graduation. Benedict obtained her PhD in Business Management alongside her sister Aniebo Hagan who graduated with her Master’s in Disaster Management.

Empowerment through education

Benedict is walking in her father’s footsteps as a lecturer at the Department of Business Management. “We hail from an academically inclined family. Our late father was a lecturer in English and Theatre Arts. Our house was always filled with books and we were encouraged to read, to be creative and inquisitive about our surroundings,” Benedict explains.

Her belief in education and women empowerment led her to establish a NPO called Cherished Rubies. “It focuses on projects and activities related to the empowerment, development, training and health of the girl child and women in the province,” she elaborates. 

Merging education and entrepreneurship

Her PhD thesis titled: The Influence of Environmental and Individual Factors on the Growth Intentions of SMMEs in the Free State investigates internal and external forces that could facilitate or hinder entrepreneurs’ intentions to grow their businesses. “The results and recommendations should benefit current entrepreneurs, policymakers, educational institutions and relevant government agencies seeking to decrease the failure rate of Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in the province,” she said.
 
Benedict is also the CEO and co-founder of Mdy Designs (Pty) Ltd, which she operates with another sister, Mmedaara Samson-Akpan who graduated from the UFS with a B.Sc in Information Technology and Management in 2015. Mdy Designs is an award-winning business in Bloemfontein which focuses on clothing and accessories inspired by indigenous African designs and materials.

Descending from a lineage of women who used education to empower themselves, Benedict is a true inspiration for women in education and entrepreneurship and takes the baton to empower future generations. 

News Archive

SASOL TRAC laboratory launched at UFS Qwaqwa Campus
2006-05-08

Some of the guests attending the launch of the Sasol TRAC Laboratory at the University of the Free State's (UFS) Qwaqwa Campus were from the left Prof Peter Mbati (Principal of the Qwaqwa Campus), Mrs Zimbini Zwane ( Communications Manager of Sasol Infrachem), Prof Gerhardt  de Klerk (Dean : UFS Faculty of the Humanities), Prof Fred Hugo
 Director of TRAC SA) and Prof Jack van der Linde (Director of RIEP at the UFS).

SASOL TRAC laboratory launched at UFS Qwaqwa Campus

The Research Institute for Education Planning (RIEP) of the University of the Free State (UFS) today unveiled the Sasol TRAC Laboratory at its Qwaqwa campus.

The laboratory will be used to help grade 10, 11 and 12 learners and educators from the Qwaqwa region to conduct the experiments from the physical sciences outcome-based curriculum.

“The Sasol TRAC Laboratory introduces learners not only to the latest technology used by engineers and other scientists in practice but also to stimulate the learner’s interest in the field of science in such a way that more of them will enter into science related careers,” says Mr Cobus van Breda, Co-ordinator of the TRAC Free State Regional Centre.

According to Mr van Breda the newly established Sasol TRAC Laboratory will enable RIEP to train learners and their educators in Physical Sciences.  The laboratory will consist of six work stations equipped with computers and electronic sensors.

“Learners from the Qwaqwa region will visit the Sasol TRAC Laboratory on regular basis to conduct experiments based on the curriculum.  Data will be collected with electronic apparatus and presented as graphs on the computer so that results can be analysed and interpreted,” says Mr van Breda.

“There is a serious shortage of suitable qualified teachers in maths and science in the Qwaqwa region.  Many schools in the region are not yet part of the RIEP project and are in dire need of assistance.  A large number of these schools are in remote areas not reached regularly by intervention programmes,” says Prof Peter Mbati, Principal of the UFS Qwaqwa Campus.

“The establishment of the Sasol TRAC Laboratory at the Qwaqwa Campus provides us the opportunity to engage with our community and assist in the development and training of these vital education subjects.  We are pleased that Sasol agreed to fund the project,” says Prof Mbati.

Students from the Qwaqwa Campus will also benefit from the TRAC programme.   “Some promising students will also undergo further training and become assistants for the TRAC programme,” says Prof Mbati. 

“Nurturing science and mathematical skills is of great importance in growing our national economy. Annually, Sasol invests more than R50 million in supporting mathematical and science education in South Africa. Our primary aim is to increase the number of learners gaining access to tertiary education in the science fields. Therefore, our Corporate Social Investment (CSI) education interventions at secondary school level focus on educator development and direct learner interventions such as the Sasol TRAC Laboratory,” explains Ms Pamilla Mudhray, CSI and SHARP manager at Sasol.

According to Ms Mudhray the implementation of the National Curriculum Statement for physical sciences in the further education and training (FET) phase from 2006, under resourced schools will need greater access to the tools and equipment necessary to teach the syllabus and fulfil the ideals of the curriculum.

TRAC South Africa is a national non-profit programme focused on supporting and expanding science, mathematics and technology education in secondary schools. The programme was first introduced to South Africa in 1994. In 2005, RIEP established the TRAC Free State regional centre on the UFS Main Campus in Bloemfontein.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:   (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
5 May 2006

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept