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Message from the UFS Dean of Student Affairs concerning the 2021 SRC elections

25 November 2020

The UFS SRC Elections will be held from 01 to 04 December 2020 for the QwaQwa and South Campus. The Bloemfontein Campus SRC elections for the elective portfolios will be held in 2021.

• The window for the nomination of candidates for the CSRC elective portfolios has closed and the final candidate list of candidates is now available on the election website.

• Candidates’ on the final list may therefore conduct their campaigns. Candidates’ campaigns must be within the prescripts of the UFS SRC Election Code of Conduct.

• Nominations for ex-officio candidates have since closed. In this regard, the final list of candidates will be published on election website on 25 November 2020

• Student Council Elections for the ex-officio portfolios will be held from 26 to 30 November 2020. To this effect, an invitation to respective student council meetings will be sent out via student emails.

• Manifesto launches will take place via webinars between 25 and 30 November 2020. A detailed schedule will be made available via the election website.

KDBS Consulting (Pty) Ltd has been appointed to oversee and manage the SRC elections 2020/2021 as the Independent Chief Elections Administrator. A website has been launched to provide up-to-date information regarding these elections and all processes related to it. The website address is https://www.ufs-srcelection.co.za.

For any queries related to the elections, you can email the Chief Election Administrator at info@ufs-srcelection.co.za or you can call the election helpdesk at +27 0 800 061 052 toll-free.

Please look out for election-specific notifications via SMS or your UFS4Life student emails.

News Archive

UFS welcomes unanimous judgement about its Language Policy in the Supreme Court of Appeal

2017-03-28

The University of the Free State (UFS) is pleased with the unanimous judgment handed down in the Supreme Court of Appeal this morning, in which the application from AfriForum and Solidarity to review and set aside the decision by the UFS Council to adopt a new Language Policy was dismissed.

The court accordingly directed that AfriForum and Solidarity pay the legal costs of the UFS, which include the costs of two Counsel. This is the second time that the two applicants were ordered to pay the university’s legal costs.

The UFS further welcomes the decision by the Full Bench that the Free State High Court made a mistake last year by indicating that the UFS Council made an irrational decision when it approved the new Language Policy on 11 March 2016.

“Today’s decision is a milestone in the history of the University of the Free State and underlines the importance of the decision made by the Council last year. The decision comes with a responsibility, as we now have to ensure that all our students can become part of the global community of scholars by providing them with the necessary support. We also have to make our staff and students understand the implication of the court’s decision,” said Prof Nicky Morgan, acting Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS.

The effect of today’s judgment is that the UFS may proceed to implement the new Language Policy according to its Implementation Plan. The new policy entails English as primary medium of instruction, but with the introduction of a tutorial system in Afrikaans and progressively in Sesotho to support students’ learning in their first and second year of study.

The policy has been piloted since January 2017 with first-year students in three faculties: Law, Health Sciences, and the Humanities. In these faculties, the majority of students indicated their preference to be taught in English. The Afrikaans-English policy will be maintained in the rest of the faculties in 2017 and phased out according to an implementation plan as from 2018.

Current registered students are able to complete their studies in the language they selected upon registration.

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Brand Management)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

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