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21 May 2019 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Charl Devenish
Bloem Campus Open Day 2019
2020 Prospective Students get a taste of varsity life at UFS Bloemfontein Campus Open Day.

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Matric learners from all over South Africa, together with their parents, teachers, and some Grade 11 learners, attended the University of the Free State (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus 2019 Open Day on 11 May, to investigate whether the UFS can meet their expectations and spark a dream concerning their careers.

A glimpse of what prospective first-years can expect in 2020

The UFS has seven faculties: Economic and Management Sciences, Education, Health Sciences, the Humanities, Law, Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Theology and Religion, and an additional Open and Distance Learning on its South Campus, and the Business School. On Open Day, learners had the opportunity to attend faculty exhibitions offering course information, teaching aids, models, and much more, demonstrating the high calibre of teaching and learning facilities at the UFS, as well as innovation and technology-based education. Learners were also exposed to interaction with academics and the deans of the faculties, motivational talks by senior students in the respective faculties, as well as members from the Student Representative Council (SRC), Kovsie FM, Student Wellness, the UFS Student Library, and Student Recruitment Services.

Why study at the UFS?

According to an honours lecturer in the UFS Department of Architecture (Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences), the UFS, just like any other South African university, would be an obvious choice of study for students interested in architecture, because it is accredited by the South African Council for the Architectural Profession, as well as internationally. However, what sets the UFS apart, is the fact that lecturers have close working relationships with their students in the department, allowing them to track and understand their students’ work, academic progress, and skills development. The Department of Architecture, just like other departments in the seven faculties of study offered at the UFS, pride themselves on selecting top-tier learners to pursue their studies and moulding them into competitive professionals who will thrive in the working world. 

The UFS prides itself on being a research-led, student-centred, and regionally engaged university that aims to produce globally competitive graduates through a renewed and transformed curriculum.
 
Seventeen-year-old Zwelethu Ndabezitha from Phoenix in KwaZulu-Natal, who wants to become a quantity surveyor, said: “I want to apply everything I’ve learned into rebuilding and transforming my home town”. Learners such as Zwelethu stand a chance to realise their dreams and develop by means of dynamic scientific education, as well as independent and critical thought-enhancing education provided by the UFS.

For more information about pursuing studies at the UFS, visit the UFS prospective students’ website where learners can also apply online.

 

News Archive

Emotional health of vulnerable children needs urgent intervention
2014-02-04



In South Africa, thousands of children under the age of 18 are orphaned as a result of HIV/Aids. Experts are worried that these orphans and vulnerable children will experience serious socio-emotional problems and behaviour disorders, should urgent intervention programmes not be implemented urgently.

A study was undertaken by the Centre for Development Support at the UFS, in conjunction with Stellenbosch University and the Houston University in America. The research found that in the Free State province alone, about 15% of orphans and vulnerable children showed signs of psychiatric disorders. Almost half of the children in the study showed signs of abnormal or maladjusted behavioural functioning.

The research team believes that the South African government and the numerous non-governmental organisations put too much emphasis on the physical needs of orphaned and vulnerable children and that their socio-emotional or mental wellbeing receives very little attention.

The nominal financial grant is a welcome relief for some of the needs of this risk group. Researchers are worried, though, that the lack of reliable and culturally-sensitive diagnostic methods for the early detection of psychiatric disorders may pose a challenge when the children reach puberty.

The current study is focusing on the detection of emotional behavioural problems even before adolescence. Questionnaires were distributed across the Free State at clinics, schools and non-governmental organisations dealing with these children. The questionnaires enabled researchers to establish the children's socio-emotional needs.

"Overcrowding in houses where orphans and vulnerable children often live is directly linked to poor socio-emotional health in children," says Prof Lochner Marais from the Centre for Development Support. "The state institutions offering programmes for orphans and vulnerable children overemphasise the physical and/or financial needs of these children. The programme provides, for example, food for the children, grants for the [foster] parents, assistance with school clothes and ensures clinic visits for the children. Of these, only the supply of food has a direct impact on the improved mental health of children."

The study provides, for the first time, a profile of the state of mind of this group, as well as the emotional impact of HIV/Aids – an "urgent matter" according to Dr Carla Sharp from the University of Houston's Department of Psychology. According to Dr Sharp, much more could be done to assist foster parents in addressing the emotional needs of these children. The early detection of behavioural disorders should be the key in intervention programmes.

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