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19 July 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Charl Devenish
MEC for Education, Dr Tate Makgoe, presents an award to Khesa Maphakiso from Beacon High School at the ceremony.
MEC for Education, Dr Tate Makgoe, presents an award to Khesa Maphakiso from Beacon High School at the ceremony.

Projections indicate that by 2020 about 80% of all jobs will require some level of competency in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Also, given the rising unemployment rate and the subsequent demand for entrepreneurial skills in the past few years, STEM education has become a priority for South Africa.

A step in the right direction

Equipping young people to be efficient in the world of work and business is a major driver behind the country’s education system. The MEC for Education in the Free State reiterated the importance of STEM subjects. Dr Tate Makgoe addressed about 200 top-performing Grade 12 learners from quintile 1-3 schools in the province who were attending the South African Institute for Chartered Accountants (SAICA) maths camp.

Making mathematics fashionable

The week-long camp recently closed with an awards ceremony which was held on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS). Nine of the creams of the crop of matric learners were honoured for their achievements in mathematics, physical science, and accounting.

Zinhle Gumbi, from Morena Mokopela Secondary School, one of the three Mathematics Top Achiever award recipients has become more determined to choose a maths-related profession. “I have told myself that any career I follow must include maths. Dr Tate Makgoe said we must prove to people that the black child can do it.”

Emerging as one of the Accounting Top Achievers was Albert Ramatsekane from Tsoseletso Secondary School who intends to pursue a Chartered Accountant (CA) qualification. “The camp has boosted my confidence. Now I can choose the CA stream without thinking twice.” 

Sowing the seed and reaping the fruits

Accounting lecturer Mojalefa Mosala was satisfied with the results of the camp. “I am happy to see many familiar faces in my classes who have attended previous camps. It means we’re doing something right.”

Mosala, a former assistant camp organiser, has confidence in the project as it “affords a rare opportunity to learners who have not been exposed to information, the higher learning environment, study skills and motivational figures to experience all of these”. 
Kovsies prides itself in partnering with industry stakeholders to build the future of the country, one maths camp at a time.



News Archive

US Consul-General learns about transformation at the UFS
2011-11-11

 
A delegation from the US consulate came to learn more about our transformation initiatives and the Leadership for Change programme. From the left are: Prof. Aldo Stroebel, Director of International Academic Projects in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor; Mrs Dineo Gaofhiwe-Ingram, Assistant-Director: International Affairs; Mr Earl Miller, US Consul-General; and Mr Rudi Buys, Dean of Student Affairs.

When others visit our university to learn more about our transformation initiatives, we certainly are on the right track.

Mr Earl Miller, Consul-General at the United States Consulate in Johannesburg, paid our university a visit as part of his orientation trip to the Free State.
 
Mr Miller, who was accompanied by two senior colleagues from his office, was interested to learn more about our university’s initiatives relating to transformation, the Leadership for Change programme and the work done at the International Institute for Studies in Race, Reconciliation and Social Justice.
 
He met with some of the students who had recently returned from the USA and Europe to reflect on their experiences on the programme and expressed his appreciation for the initiative, since it also afforded American students an opportunity to learn from their South African peers.

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