Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
29 January 2020 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa
Kovie Act
For more information on the 2020 Kovsie ACT programme and the upcoming events, visit the UFS Kovsie ACT website page, email: jool@ufs.ac.za or call: +27 51 401 2718 or visit Kovsie ACT on Facebook and Twitter.
The University of the Free State (UFS) is preparing for an exciting 2020 KovsieAct programme, with Amapiano superstar Kabza de Small, deep house music pioneers Black Motion, and musical sensations Spoegwolf and Early B poised to entertain students, staff, and the public at a Kovsie ACT music festival on 1 February 2020. 

Something new to the programme this year is the Kovsie ACT eco-vehicle parade through the streets of Bloemfontein. This parade replaced the old RAG float building and procession.

This is done with the intention to foster a close relationship with the broader Bloemfontein community. The parade on 1 February 2020 is also a celebration by first-year students of their entry into the UFS campus community.

The parade will be followed by an eco-vehicle race taking place on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus. Five teams will compete in categories including an Endurance race, Slalom course, Obstacle course, and Formula1-inspired race. Karen Scheepers, 
UFS Assistant Director for Student Life, says Kovsie ACT is a great opportunity for students to learn about sustainable environmental development through exciting community-building activities. “It’s an opportunity for them to learn new skills and build valuable relationships.”

“Skills developed through the programme include students learning to listen and communicate better; they also acquire time-management and relationship-building skills. Kovsie ACT also propels them to persevere and practise responsibility and pride in the activities they participate in throughout the programme, which sees them personify the term ‘only a Kovsie knows the feeling’,” Scheepers explained. 

Dr WP Wahl, Director: Student Life in the Department of Student Affairs, says the UFS has already initiated the next phase of the eco-vehicle project.  

“The Department of Student Affairs, in partnership with merSETA and the Department of Engineering Sciences (Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences), is developing six skills programmes that will significantly enhance the developmental impact of this programme for participating students.  To this effect, a team of engineers and instructional designers are working with the UFS to ensure that the necessary competencies are embedded in these skills programmes, which will help graduates compete on a global scale.  Students will be able to apply to become part of this high-tech phase of the eco-vehicle project during April 2020.” 

Kovsie ACT programme

09:00 – Kovsie Act Parade departing from the UFS Furstenburg Gate. Short parade through Mangaung: Nelson Mandela Drive – Zastron Street – 2nd Avenue – Kellner Street and return via Nelson Mandela Drive to the UFS

11:00 - Parade arrives back at UFS Furstenburg Gate

11:30–14:00: Eco-vehicle race at Mokete Square (previously known as the Red Square) on the Bloemfontein Campus

 16:00–till late: Kovsie ACT Music Festival at Bloemfontein Campus Rag Farm 
For more information on the above-mentioned events, visit the UFS Kovsie ACT page, email: jool@ufs.ac.za or call: +27 51 401 2718 or visit Kovsie ACT on Facebook and Twitter.

News Archive

Doll parent project exposes learners to real-life issues of responsible reproductive health
2016-11-01

Description: Doll parent project Tags: Doll parent project

Princess Gaboilelwe Motshabi,
Princess Gabo Foundation, Maki Lesia,
School of Nursing, Zenzele Mdletshe,
Internationalisation office, Masters of
Education students from Rutgers University
and study leader.


With the alarming rate of teenage pregnancies in secondary schools, a concerned teacher approached University of the Free State (UFS) School of Nursing in 2013, and in 2015, the Reproductive Health Education Project (RRHEP) was established in collaboration with fourth-year Midwifery students, the Princess Gabo Foundation and the UFS Community Engagement Directorate.

Empowering learners to make responsible reproductive health choices was the primary objective, which got final-year nursing students involved in the Doll-Parenting Project as part of their Service Learning Module. To simulate parenting, boys and girls in Grade Eight were given dolls to take care of as their “baby” for a given period of time. After an information session with parents and guardians, the project took off at Moroka High School in Thaba Nchu and Lekhulong High School in Mangaung. The Princess Gabo Foundation, an NGO operating in the Thaba Nchu community, which supports maternal health programmes, provided the dolls, kangaroo wraps, and diaries in which learners recorded their daily experiences of caring for a baby.

Teen parenting – a challenging experience

Learners were required to calculate how much it would cost to care for a baby, the cost of buying nappies, formula milk (if not breast feeding), doctor’s visits, and medicine. The project was supported by teachers in various subject classes, and learners were encouraged to express themselves through writing of poems or essays about how it feels to be a teen parent.

Dr Delene Botha, lecturer at the School of Nursing, said there was a need to establish a sustainable research project that would attract funding. By adding some of the missing components and drawing on other disciplines such as Sociology and Psychiatry, the project was expected to be extended to meet the needs of other stakeholders including teachers, parents and the community at large.

With cellphones and data provided by the Community Engagement office, the “parenting practice” involved receiving SMS messages from nursing students during odd times of the day to remind them about the needs of the baby; such as wet nappies, the “baby” not feeling well and to be soothed.

Sensitising learners yields success

In evaluating their performance, appointed “police learners” became the eyes and ears of the community to observe and report on how “parents” treated their “babies”. Statements from participants and feedback showed Incidences of negligence and the feeling of embarrassment from being a teen parent. The report indicated that learners felt that having a baby while still at school was not a good idea. The project concluded with a debate on the subject.

As part of the programme, a group of postgraduate Education students from Rutgers University in the US, visited Chief Moroka High School and received first-hand information from their interaction with the learners from which they created digital stories of their Community Engagement experience and took these back with them.

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