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20 December 2020
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Story Thabo Kessah
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Photo Thabo Kessah
Mbuyiselwa Moloi with student volunteers, Keamogetswe Mooketsi (presenter), Tshumelo Phaladi (producer), and Siphamandla Shabangu (SRC member – Social Justice and Universal Access).
The month of October 2020 marked the first anniversary of the Qwaqwa Campus online student radio, Q-Lit. “It has been a rocky road of sleepless nights, tears, and a lot of challenges. However, we have grown from strength to strength. We have made dreams of ordinary students possible. We have influenced change and inspired students to tap into their talents and potential,” said an elated station manager, Mbuyiselwa Moloi.
The station came in handy during the worst lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic when it bridged the communication gap between students and the university to integrate teaching and learning into the programming to ensure that no student was left behind. “With all of the regulations and online learning, Q-Lit had to be reinvented. While it was not an easy journey, we have grown more than ever before. Our August 2020 report shows that we have pulled in more than 1 600 listeners, even amid the learning, unlearning, and relearning processes. It was during this month that we also ran a series highlighting strategic offices led by women on campus as part of our Women’s Month celebration,” Mbuyiselwa revealed.
Looking to the future, the station hopes to obtain a full broadcasting licence from the regulatory body, the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (ICASA), soon.
Renowned Sign Language expert heads UFS department
2009-11-27
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| Mr Philemon Akach |
The Department of Afro-asiatic Studies, Sign Language and Language Practice in the Faculty of the Humanities at the University of the Free State recently appointed Mr Philemon Akach as its new chairperson.
Mr Akach, hitherto a senior lecturer in the department, succeeds Prof Annelie Lotriet who left the university earlier this year after having been elected to serve in the national parliament by the Democratic Alliance.
“To head the entire department has never crossed my mind because I think I am discipline oriented,” he said.
He said the confidence that his colleagues have in him gives him the impetus to succeed. “It gives me the opportunity to rethink my position within the department and the university at large,” he said.
However, his Sign Language students will be glad to know that he will not be lost to them as the result of this new responsibility.
“I cannot neglect Sign Language,” he stressed. “I have to teach because the academic side of Sign Language has to be maintained within the university, as well as nationally and internationally. I just have to divide my time between the administration of Sign Language and the teaching and research application in my discipline (Sign Language).”
To ease the load that comes with his new responsibility and the added pressure of being the only Sign Language lecturer, he said they have contracted former students to teach some courses in Sign Language.
“We have to keep in place the disciplines that keep this department’s name going,” he said.
A major challenge facing his department, according to Mr Akach, is getting more students enrolled in the disciplines offered by the department.
“To get students we need to convince them that we are the best, and that is not just a challenge for me but for the department and the lecturers in the department teaching those disciplines.”
He said he will strive for excellence in the department as part of the overall vision of the university.
“We need to get research output while not neglecting the teaching part. It is research that brings in new knowledge and it is through research that scholars expose themselves to the outside world, and by doing that they actually put the name of this university on the international map,” he said.
Mr Akach will serve in this position for the next three years.
Media release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt.stg@ufs.ac.za
26 November 2009