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30 May 2019 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Rulanzen Martin
Africa Memorial lecture
From left; Dr Stephanie Cawood, Director of CGAS; Prof Francis Nyamnjoh; Prof Heidi Hudson, Dean of the Faculty of the Humanities, and Dr Engela van Staden, Vice-Rector: Academic
Ubuntu is a word we all know and, to some extent, relate to. Prof Francis Nyamnjoh aimed to delve and explore this African philosophy when he presented the 2019 Africa Day Memorial Lecture with the topic Ubuntuism and Africa: Actualised, Misappropriated, Endangered and Reappraised. 

The memorial lecture is hosted annually by the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies (CGAS) at the University of the Free State (UFS) to coincide with Africa Month celebrations. Prof Nyamnjoh holds a PhD from the University of Leicester in the UK. He is currently a professor of social anthropology at the University of Cape Town and has been a scholar in sociology, anthropology and communication science at universities in Cameroon and Botswana. The lecture took place on 22 May 2019 in the Equitas Auditorium on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus.

“When I saw the topic I thought this was very contemporary. We at the university decided to include the Ubuntu principle in our learning and teaching strategy,” said Dr Engela van Staden, Vice-Rector: Academic. 

Ubuntu as a binding factor for interconnectedness 

We live a world in which we cannot stand alone as the principle of Ubuntu tells us that we are who we are because of our interconnectedness with other people. “It is important to recognise that you stand on others to be tall,” said Prof Nyamnjoh. 

“We are the product of ongoing conversations on interconnectedness."

“I have argued that, in the spirit of Ubuntu, Africans, their identities and mobilities are part and parcel of the experience of being human in a world on the move. And their contributions are needed in today’s world more than ever. 

“I have broached the context of globalisation and histories of unequal encounters that have shaped relations in Africa and beyond under global capitalism."

“Even as it is increasingly seriously tested by opportunism, Ubuntuism, sometimes a reality and sometimes an ideal, brings hope and redemption, and offers a feasible framework for participatory and inclusive emancipatory social change,” said Prof Nyamnjoh. 


News Archive

Commonwealth research publication on teacher qualifications launched
2010-03-15

 
At the launch were, from the left: Mr Samuel Isaacs, CEO: SAQA; Dr Louis van der Westhuizen, Quality Assurance Manager: Planning Unit, UFS; Dr Roli Degazon-Johnson, Education Advisor: Commonwealth Secretariat, United Kingdom; Prof. Jansen; Ms Simoné de Cormarmond, Chairperson: Commonwealth Foundation, and Dr Keevy.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

The 5th Annual Commonwealth Teacher Research Symposium, which is taking place at the University of the Free State (UFS) this week, was formally opened with the launch of the Commonwealth publication, A Fair Trade For Teachers, at the Willows Restaurant just outside Bloemfontein.

The publication, co-authored by Prof. Jonathan Jansen, the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, and Dr James Keevy, Director of International Liaison at the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), offers a rich one-stop resource point for a wide range of data that policy makers in the participating Commonwealth nations can tap in to formulate or improve policies that deal with teacher qualifications.

The aim is to develop a pan-Commonwealth teacher qualifications comparability table to provide the basis for pathways for the recognition of qualifications of teachers when they move across borders.

This research report is located within the cross-section of two current discourses: one being the international migration of highly skilled labour, specifically teachers, and the other being the cross-border provisioning of education and training.

The research is limited to primary and secondary teacher qualifications offered within 35 Commonwealth countries.


 

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