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UFS partners with national government to train public officials

22 June 2020 | Story Amanda Tongha

The University of the Free State (UFS) will play an instrumental role in equipping senior government officials with skills to fulfil their roles in the delivery of public services. The UFS is one of five higher education institutions that the national government has partnered with to provide management training for public servants across South Africa.

The Minister of Public Service and Administration, Mr Senzo Mchunu, announced on Friday 19 June 2020 that the National School of Government (NSG) will work with the UFS, North-West University, University of Fort Hare, University of the Western Cape, and the Tshwane University of Technology to deliver its Integrated Management Development Programme (IMDP) across the country. The Minister described the IMDP as “a comprehensive professional development framework for public sector supervisors, managers, and leaders, which promotes the application of sound management and leadership principles in a context of people-oriented development and service”.

Working with the NSG – a state training institution tasked to build public sector capacity – the UFS will provide training in various areas of public management.

Dr Lyndon du Plessis, Head of the Department of Public Administration and Management, says the UFS will provide management training at executive level through its Executive Development Programme (EDP), and on supervisory and middle-management level through the Emerging Management Development and Advanced Management Development programmes. This will be presented by the UFS Business School and the Department of Public Administration and Management. The latter will accredit the course content and ensure that experts are available to teach the course.

“It is a feather in the cap of the UFS and the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences that it has been selected together with only four other higher education institutions to provide these programmes. It is the continuation of a long-standing constructive relationship with government in an attempt to improve the quality of public sector management in South Africa, and the faculty is proud to be a role player in this key area.”

• The EDP has catered for about 130 students annually over the past three years.

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Distinguished Kovsie medical student bestowed with Abe Bailey Bursary

2013-10-14

14 October 2013

Residence head, SRC member, Golden Key International Honour Society member and now: Abe Bailey scholar as well. These are some of the achievements and leadership titles that Michael van Niekerk, a fourth-year MBChB student at our university, has under his belt.

One of 18 South Africans countrywide, Van Niekerk is to visit institutions in England and Scotland as a recipient of the prestigious Abe Bailey Travel Bursary for 2013. The scholarship acknowledges excellence in academics, leadership and community service and is awarded annually to third-year students and/or junior lecturers not older than 25 years of age.

The recipients of the 2013 Abe Bailey scholarship leave for Cape Town on 20 November 2013 to attend a two-day orientation process. Following this, they will then travel to London and Edinburgh, where they will visit universities, as well as places of interest such as London’s House of Lords.

Van Niekerk, who recently visited the USA as part of the Golden Key International Honour Society’s International Scholar Laureate programme, says it is an incredible honour to be this year’s Abe Bailey recipient for the UFS. "I am very blessed to not only excel in the medical field, but also in leadership and other aspects and I believe that this is absolutely grace from Above. I believe that this is an opportunity and a step to a better future. I don’t believe in being average and believe that this is an opportunity to prove myself and achieve more."

This Kovsie student says he has great plans for the future. "If it is God’s will, I would very much like to specialise in neurosurgery, cardiothoracic surgery or trauma surgery. I would like to be part of the Rhodes Scholarship and would strive to reach it."

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