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13 May 2019 | Story Mamosa Makaya

The autumn graduations at the University of the Free State (UFS) in 2019 highlighted the success of public private partnerships between big business and academic institutions in tackling the lingering challenge of financial support of students in institutions of higher learning. With the advent of #feesmustfall protests in recent years, a call to action for student financial support was made, not only by university students, but by civil society as well. The response was a joining of efforts between UFS and Absa. The bank came on board as a sponsor and has provided more than R28 million in scholarships at UFS between 2016 and 2018.

Institutional advancement key facilitator

The office of Institutional Advancement (IA) at UFS was a key roleplayer in securing this funding from Absa, by facilitating the process of acquiring the funding, managing the relationship with Absa and the UFS Student Aid office. IA facilitated the process of identifying and allocating student funding, signing of bursary contracts, and stakeholder liaison.

Student success and economic growth

The Absa Scholarship Programme was conceptualised as a demonstration of the company’s commitment to tackling social change and driving economic growth. Absa partnered with various other universities in the country to ensure academically excellent and financially constrained students have a chance to complete their undergraduate degrees. Since 2016, sponsored UFS students were covered for tuition fees, accommodation, text books and meals, enabling them to focus on their studies, and to acquire their qualifications in record time, ready to enter the world of work. 

The scholarship is reviewed annually with the following criteria; studying towards a degree in commerce, the humanities, engineering, science and technology, while maintaining an academic average of 55% or higher, and with a combined household income of less than R1million per annum.

Achievements of the programme

Since 2016, 723 UFS students were financially supported, with 2018 being the last year of the new intake. The current cohort is expected to complete their undergraduate studies by 2020 when the programme ends. To date more than 101 UFS students have obtained their qualifications and more will graduate later this year. Partnerships between academia, big business and other private sponsors are one of the great building blocks of our society, and continue to play a significant role its development.

News Archive

Discourse on statues and symbols puts transformation questions in the spotlight
2015-04-12

 

Amid various protest actions against historical statues across the country over the last two weeks, the University of the Free State’s Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice presented a three-day discussion session the past week about the role and place of statues, symbols and signs in the transformation attempts of universities.

During these lunchtime sessions, various speakers from different contexts had expressed their opinions about this issue that has become a focal point, not only for universities, but also for the country as a whole.

Thus speakers not only gave their opinions about whether there is a place in present-day South Africa for statues and symbols from colonial and apartheid-South Africa, but also highlighted the cultural-historical values and the more deep-seated issues and symbolism of the statue-debate.

UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Jonathan Jansen, said on the first day of the session that the discourse was not about only one person’s memories, but about everyone’s in the country. He proposed that similar sessions should be held at each university campus.

He also said that, instead of breaking down, people should learn to live together, and everyone should be involved for transformation to occur.

Speakers who served on the panel, included academics from the UFS and Stellenbosch University as well as representatives of the Student Representative Council and of historical and heritage foundations.

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