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11 June 2019 | Story Moeketsi Mogotsi | Photo Moeketsi Mogotsi
New KovsieCyberSta
Read to roll: The dynamic duo of Olebogeng Tlhong and Anderson Mosia are always camera ready and they’ll be telling you what is happening on and around campus over the next year. PHOTO: Moeketsi Mogotsi

The search for the 2019/2020 #KovsieCyberSta team has been an exciting one, with Anderson Mosia and Olebogeng Tlhong coming out tops to beat the competition.
Anderson, a second-year BA Languages student, didn’t let last year’s failure deter his efforts to enter again this year. 

“I am hoping to achieve a lot of things. My milestone would be to raise the bar high for the next stars; I've got a lot in store,” he says. 

He says he is passionate about spreading love, and he will use this new platform to express himself.

It has been first-time charm for first-year LLB student, Olebogeng. She says as soon as she saw the competition was open, she knew it was something that would fit her persona. 

“I am hoping to not only grow as an individual, but to leave my mark. The question that I asked myself before stepping into this role, was –what’s going to be different because you stepped in? I aspire to document and present events in the best way that I know, while being open to learning and, through my knowledge, inspire and teach others.”

The 19-year-old says she will use her passion for serving to express herself best over the next 12 months. 

“I believe that it is my duty to use the knowledge I have acquired/am to acquire in order to make somebody else’s life better. So essentially, I am a servant leader; I believe that there is enough room for everybody to succeed,” she adds.

As #KovsieCyberStas, the duo will cover events on and around campus, while filming and presenting short video clips to give fellow Kovsies some insight into these events across the UFS’s digital platforms.



News Archive

Competition emphasises value of mother-tongue education
2017-11-02

Description: Public Speaking Competition  Tags: Public Speaking Competition  

At the recent Multilingual Debating Competition were, from the left: Anita Muller,
local facilitator; William Magwa, master of ceremonies; Dr Chrismi-Rinda Loth,
project coordinator in the Unit for Language Facilitation and Empowerment; and
Mabatho Ntsieng, project facilitator in Community Engagement.
Photo: Supplied

The Multilingual Public Speaking Competition has been an annual event in Philippolis since 2013. The competition was established as a result of the Multilingual Information Development Programme (MIDP), a project sponsored by the province of Antwerp in Flanders, Belgium. 

The competition is jointly hosted by the Unit for Language Facilitation and Empowerment (ULFE) at the University of the Free State (UFS) and the Department of Community Engagement, also from the UFS. 

Debating in your home language
Grade 6 to 9 learners from four schools participated in this year’s competition. Bergmanshoogte Intermediate School, Madikgetla Primary School, Williamsville Primary School, and Springfontein Primary School each entered their three best speakers per grade. 

Olerato Tshiloane, a Grade 7 learner from Madikgetla Primary School, was named best speaker overall. 

Everyone debated on ‘Heritage’
The overall theme of this annual event was ‘Heritage’. Thirty six learners debated in their mother tongue on aspects of this theme, such as its definition, the role it plays in their lives, and the importance thereof. According to Dr Chrismi-Rinda Loth from ULFE, learners have to present their speeches in their mother tongues. “This emphasises the value of the mother tongue/home language within a teaching context,” she says.

This year’s competition saw 20 Afrikaans speeches, 13 in Sesotho, and three in isiXhosa. The multilingual adjudication panel was composed of teachers from the participating schools, and the head adjudicator from the Afrikaanse Taal- en Kultuurvereniging (ATKV). The ATKV is a partial sponsor of the competition and also provides the participation certificates. 

Dr Loth says ULFE and Community Engagement are looking forward to continue their collaboration, thus contributing to the empowerment of the community.

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