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03 April 2019 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Vhugala Nthakheni
Uhuru Qwaqwa Arrival
The #UFSWalkToUhuru team arrives at the UFS Qwaqwa Campus on Friday 22 March.

The University of the Free State (UFS) Division of Student Affairs, in collaboration with the UFS Office for International Affairs, have joined hands to drive a fundraising and student-accessibility initiative dubbed, ‘The Walk to Uhuru’ (#UFSWalktoUhuru), which is aimed at raising funds and advocating for the educational rights of the less privileged. 

The project aims to raise funds in excess of R2 million from the public and stakeholders affiliated with the UFS (Kovsie staff and students). The project derives from the 2018/2019 UFS Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC) mandate ‘Students Must Graduate’. The ISRC mandate aims to source funding opportunities for UFS students to register, and to complete their studies across all three campuses in 2020 and beyond.

The first leg of the project, a 350 km walk from the Bloemfontein to the Qwaqwa Campus, has already taken place and concluded on Friday, 22 March 2019 as planned. The #UFSWalkToUhuru team successfully completed the first leg of their journey to academic freedom for financially disadvantaged students at the UFS. The Uhuru team is now focusing its attention on the second leg and is determined to take on Mount Kilimanjaro (Uhuru) from 20 June to 20 July 2019.

The team sat down for a debriefing session to unpack the overall experience and result of the first half of the initiative, and they all agreed that the walk to Qwaqwa was an enlightening experience. It was a walk that comprised learning opportunities, team building, and goal crushing.

According to Rethabile Motseki, member of the #UFSWalkToUhuru team, the walk to Qwaqwa made a significant impact on the project, as the university community is now aware of the significant goals that the team is trying to accomplish. The team has also resumed their fitness-training programme to ensure that they are ready to take on the Uhuru climb in June.

A media briefing will take place shortly (date to be confirmed) to detail the ongoing fundraising initiatives rolled out by the #UFSWalkToUhuru team.  We implore you, and the nation as a whole, to help establish a better future for disadvantaged UFS students by donating to the initiative.

Students, staff, and the public can support the cause and make contributions/donations to the initiative by visiting the UFS Walk to Uhuru #givengain account page.

For more information, contact UFS SRC President, Sonwabile Dwaba, on DwabaSJ@ufs.ac.za  or Rethabile Motseki on MotsekiR@ufs.ac.za  

News Archive

UFS Dean invited as keynote speaker at international conference
2011-03-23

Prof. Dennis Francis, Dean of Education

The University of the Free State’s (UFS) Dean of Education, Prof. Dennis Francis, has received the honour of being invited as keynote speaker at the Fourth International Conference of Education Reform (ICER).

Prof. Francis, who has already published widely in the areas of social justice education and sexuality education, will address the conference on 24 and 25 March 2011 in Luang Prabang, Laos.
 
The theme of the conference is Equality and Education. Prof. Francis will address the international audience with his speech entitled “Troubling elements of a theory of oppression that should inform the work of teachers in higher education”.
                                                                 
Prof. Francis’ keynote will address three questions, namely what challenges South African society presents to the teaching of anti-oppression, what elements of theory and pedagogy are most effective in equipping teachers and students for those challenges and what real-life experiences of teaching in the area of education for social justice can teach about pedagogy in any context where injustice and inequality prevails. He will draw on his personal experiences regarding the latter. 
 
“We need to deepen the theoretical grasp of oppression if education is to be effective in addressing social inequality. Teaching for equity and social justice education requires that we address the multiple layers of oppression that correspond with varying forms of privilege and injustice, and none of these exist in isolation.” 
 
Prof. Dennis says that he is humbled by the invitation and sees this as an opportunity to learn, grow and contribute in the area of education in social justice.


Media Release
23 March 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

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