Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
05 September 2019 | Story Thabo Kessah | Photo Thabo Kessah
New Era Editorial Team
New Era editorial team comprising the Editor-in-Chief, Prudence Mkhari, flanked by editors, Mosia Rasekwane (left) and Monti Mosebi (right).

Qwaqwa Campus has a new student newsletter. According to the Editor-in-Chief, Prudence Mkhari, New Era aims to project content that is written from a student’s perspective. 

“We want students to easily relate to the content as opposed to being written by a staff member. It focuses on student-life events and the university as a whole. The content ranges from student life to university events and milestones. In essence, it is the voice of the students and the watchdog of the campus,” says Prudence.

She says response to the newspaper has been good, considering that they have had only two issues plus an SRC election special that carried candidates’ manifestos. “We are constantly being asked when the next issue is coming out. A lot of students have even come forth with stories that they would like us to cover in the next issue,” she added.

Some of the comments about the very first edition includes this one by Rosie Senoko, final-year BA student: “Congratulations on your publication. One would swear that you have written many pieces, not aware it was your first! All the best to you and your team.” A BSocSci final-year student, Sibonginkosi Ngcongwane, wrote: “Great job! Well done!”
It has not been an entirely smooth sailing process for the paper. “There is still room for improvement in terms of writing and editing, because almost no-one on the team has writing experience. So, additional training is still required. Meeting deadlines is also another area that needs major improvement,” says Prudence.

The team comprises 14 students who write a variety of pieces, from news to sports and from opinion to lifestyle, while some provide technical support such as editing and photography. 

Going forward, the plan is to digitise the newspaper and make it accessible to a broader online market. To advertise, send an email to newera@ufs4life.ac.za 

News Archive

School of Medicine accredited
2005-05-18

The School of Medicine in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (USF) is now one of only a handful of similar South African schools with a five year curriculum which received accreditation from the Health Profession Council of South Africa (HPCSA).

Prof. Gert van Zyl, Head of the school, said the school is very proud of this achievement. It means that the hard work of students and staff over the past few years are now being rewarded.

“This curriculum is similar to those of the world’s best medical schools. Most other South African medical schools are still following the six year curriculum. The UFS accreditation is applicable for the next five years.

“A special committee of the HPCSA requires a number of documents and a presentation on the quality and standard of teaching at the school.”

As a result of the five year curriculum students of the UFS medical school start working one year earlier than students of other universities. This lightens the burden of a year’s class fees.

“This accreditation is not voluntarily. If the school did not receive accreditation now, we would have to start the process again,” said Van Zyl. 

Michelé O'Connor, Volksblad, 13 May 2005

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept