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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.

News Archive

University recognised as leading Higher Education Institution for students with disabilities

2013-12-05

The University of the Free State has been lauded for creating an inclusive environment for persons with disabilities, winning the 2013 National Disability Higher Education Institution Award. The award was presented at the National Disabilities Awards held in Port Elizabeth as part of the celebrations for International Day of People with Disabilities.

The Deputy Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Hendrietta Ipeleng Bogopane-Zulu, commended the university during the event for standing out among South African institutes of higher education. She told the audience the award gives recognition to institutions that demonstrate, through their strategy and policy, the provision of an inclusive environment for persons with disabilities. This is done through the use of technology and accessibility at their premises.

It's not the first time the university received praise from the deputy minister. In 2012 she visited the Bloemfontein Campus as part of a nation-wide roadshow to assess disability compliance and support services at all universities and FET colleges. Impressed with the work of the Unit for Students with Disabilities (USD), she recommended that staff from various higher education institutions visit the campus to gain insight into what they are doing.

Receiving the award on behalf of the university, Hetsie Veitch, Director of the USD, says the award recognises the commitment of the university’s senior leadership, who support the USD in creating a learning environment that is welcoming and accessible to all students.

Rudi Buys, Dean of Student Affairs, says the university is appreciative of what the USD does and says the award is a great achievement for a unit that only started functioning on its own three years ago. “The role of our support unit for Students with Disabilities has since 2010 grown to hold not only a prominent place in our institutional reflection on and implementation of approaches of universal access, but also to stand as leading department in building and bearing witness to the commitment of the UFS to values of universal access.”

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