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17 July 2020 | Story Nitha Ramnath | Photo iStock
The UFS initiated a new community engagement programme to help communities take charge of their lives.
The University of the Free State (UFS) is launching a new community engagement programme to help communities take charge of their lives during and after the national lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The E-Community Engagement Programme will run for the duration of the lockdown to ensure that the UFS continues to serve all people. This programme is one of more than 120 community development programmes and projects that the UFS is involved with this year.

Rev Billyboy Ramahlele, Director: Community Engagement, says this strategy is the result of the Institutional Transformation Plan, which seeks to deepen the university’s commitment towards the betterment of our communities by creating sustainable partnerships for development. “This programme is dedicated to assisting communities to take charge of their lives during and after this pandemic and will focus on sustainable livelihoods and family support”, he says.

With these community development programmes and projects, about 3 000 UFS students spend at least 127 000 hours per year engaging in 73 service-learning modules. This excludes the clinical work done by our medical and education students in the community through community-based education and inter-professional learning. The university’s 22 student volunteer associations play an important role in community development projects. Our academics and researchers contribute their intellectual resources through their involvement, teaching, and research in different aspects of community life.

The E-Community Engagement Programme refers to an alternative online/virtual community engagement platform aimed at facilitating continuously negotiated collaborations and partnerships between the UFS and the interest groups that it interacts with, aimed at building and exchanging the knowledge, skills, expertise, and resources required to develop and sustain society. Such alternative engagement stems from adapting physical face-to-face (f2f) community engagement to an e-environment. As a result of the uncertain state of restricted f2f engagement during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus of participation, dialogue, engaged learning, and teaching by university staff and students is on citizens actively participating in the development of their own lives and that of their surrounding communities.

Details of the E-Community Engagement Programme will soon be published on the UFS website, and will be presented on radio and online in partnership with Motheo FM, Mosupatsela FM, Kovsie FM, Mangaung Municipality, Towers of Hope, Princess Gabo Foundation, Rock Foundation, Bloemshelter, and all our faculties.


News Archive

Kovsies, get ready, it’s Extravaganza time
2014-09-02

It is time for the 2014 Kovsie Extravaganza, happening on 27 September – and it is going to be huge! 

The Kovsie Extravaganza is the university’s main highlight of the year on the arts and culture calendar. The aim of the event is to showcase the very best of Kovsies’ musical, dance, poetry and other talents on a grand stage in a full production.

This is where our students can experience what being a star and being part of a huge show is all about – hence the ‘Extravaganza’ element!

As every year, guest artists who are at the top of their game will feature as the main act. For 2014, there’s a load of excitement around the award-winning and youthful a cappella trio, The Soil, who will be gracing the stage. It is also an honour that the Free State Youth Orchestra, which is made up of some of the most talented students at our Odeion School of Music, will be performing as part of the show for 2014.

The Kovsie Extravaganza promises lots of thrills, excitement and a platform to celebrate who we are as a university, through song and dance. The university is also grateful to PACOFS for partnering with us and providing their expertise in making this event a resounding success.

Buy your tickets at Office no. 8 at the Thakaneng Bridge on our Bloemfontein Campus or at the PACOFS box office at the Sand du Plessis Theatre.

Ticket Prices:
Students (with student cards) – R50
Non-students – R80

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