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16 October 2020 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
Qinisani Qwabe, one of the Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans, considers it important to always reach out and contribute to someone's life, no matter how small it may be.
Looking back at 2020, most people will not have fond memories. But for Qinisani Qwabe, a second-year PhD student in the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Rural Development and Extension, 2020 turned out to be a good year.

On 10 September, he heard that he was selected as one of the Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans in the education category. As if being elected as one of the prestigious group of young people is not enough, Qwabe added another feather in his cap when he was chosen as one of 21 young scientists by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), in collaboration with the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI). 

When offered the chance to represent South Africa at a BRICS Conference in Russia, he seized the opportunity with both hands. At this virtual event, he presented a paper on a topic he cares about a lot – ecology. His paper, using a South African case study, was titled: The role of agrobiodiversity on environmental management and its impact on human ecology.

Sustainable resources

From an early age, growing up in a very isolated community called iSihuzu on the outskirts of Richards Bay, Qwabe worked hard. He not only reaped the rewards by seeing all his tuition fees paid, but he was also offered opportunities to make a difference in society. 

“I want to see a society that leads a sustainable life and values its natural resources. This is what wakes me up every morning. That is what I am working towards,” he says.

Qwabe has a registered organisation that, among others, seeks to achieve agricultural biodiversity, respect and value for local knowledge, sustainable development, as well as youth and community engagement.  

The organisation has two legs – one dealing with agricultural production and the other focusing on social entrepreneurship. “As part of this social entrepreneurship initiative, we are working with schools in the north of KwaZulu-Natal, where we do outreach programmes (e.g. donating school uniforms), and run projects driven towards sustainability,” says Qwabe.

But he believes that it is his voice on indigenous foods, together with his passion for research – complemented by community development initiatives – that contributed to his selection as one of Mail & Guardian’s top 200 Young South Africans. 

A greater vision

He is happy to be in the academia and believes that it will propel him towards his greater vision. 

“My vision for my future is to be well-known for my contributions on matters of environmental sustainability, and equally so, for community development. Parallel to my philanthropic undertakings, I envision being a leader in one of the leading organisations on environmental sustainability, such as the World Health Organisation's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO),” says Qwabe. 

Here he would like to focus his energies on food security, nutrition, and food safety; sustainable management and use of natural resources and forestry; and institutional capacity building for the sustained management of natural resources and increased agriculture production.

The next generation

Qwabe believes he is making an impact and building a solid foundation for the upcoming generations to build upon.  He urges the youth of South Africa to strive to make a difference. “No matter how small it might seem,” he says.

“To borrow from the American songwriter, Michael Jackson – WE are the world. And that 'WEness' denotes that each one of us has a role to play.

 

 

News Archive

State of our campuses: UFS closes campuses until Friday 28 October 2016 to readjust academic programme
2016-10-15

UFS announces strategy for completion of the 2016 academic year

Agreement between UFS management and student leadership in relation to residences

After almost four weeks of student protests about fees at the University of the Free State (UFS) and the subsequent suspension of the academic programme and closing of campuses, the senior leadership announced on 14 October 2016 a strategy to ensure that students will be able to complete the 2016 academic year.

The university on 13 October 2016 announced that it will shut down its Bloemfontein and South Campuses until 28 October 2016 for crucial and complex arrangements to be put in place to readjust the academic calendar and ensure that all students can complete their studies. The senior leadership did, however, make it clear that the university will not be shutting down for the remainder of 2016.

No teaching and learning activities at undergraduate and honours level will be offered between 17 October and 28 October 2016. The university will re-start teaching and learning at undergraduate and honours level in the first week of November 2016.

However, teaching and learning will not take place in the classrooms during November 2016, but through a different mode of delivery that consists of a combination of printed and recorded lectures, study materials and learning aids that will be provided by the university and delivered through Blackboard. In this manner no attempts at disrupting the rest of the academic year will affect our students’ academic programme. Students, however, will sit for the exam on campus.

Students in residence accommodation can return to campus as from 29 October 2016 and it is recommended that students who do not have off-campus internet access return to campus in order to access study material to complete the academic year.A new timetable for exams is still being developed and will be communicated as soon as the arrangements have been finalised.

Faculties have been differently affected by the loss of teaching time. Some faculties like the Faculty of Law have completed their curriculum, while other faculties like the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences require more teaching time. Some faculties, like the Faculty of Health Sciences, cannot do teaching through alternative modes of delivery.

The needs of the different faculties have been taken into account for developing a rescue plan to complete the 2016 academic year.

  • The Faculty of Health Sciences will continue its classes and clinical rotations as normal for all three schools on the Bloemfontein Campus and in the relevant hospitals. All students registered in programmes in the Faculty of Health Sciences will stay in residences for the full period of their studies and exams. Final-year medical students will graduate in December 2016 as expected.
  • In the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, final-year students for the Certificate in the Theory of Accounting (CTA) will stay on campus during October through to December 2016 and their classes and tests will not change.
  • Arrangements for all other faculties and programmes are being prepared and within the next week, students and parents/guardians will receive communication about how curriculum content will be completed and when the final exams will take place.
  • The university is extending the academic year so that we can recuperate all the lost teaching and learning time. The qualifications conferred on the 2016 class will be of the same quality and standards as all UFS qualifications.

The UFS is and will remain a fundamentally contact teaching and learning education university. However, under the current circumstances faced not only by the UFS, but higher-education institutions across the country, the best way of ensuring the integrity of the academic programmes in most faculties is by using an alternative way of teaching and learning. Other South African universities have chosen the same approach to be able to complete the academic year.

Instead of students going to class, they will have content delivered to them where they are (library, computer labs, their own computers, etc.) through Blackboard and printed and electronic material. This is a different way of learning but students will be carefully guided and supported.

Faculties are currently preparing all the necessary materials and instructions to support student learning.Standards and quality will be the same as if students were attending classes. Some faculties require practical laboratory work as part of their curriculum. The exam timetable will be adapted for these students to be able to complete their practical work when the academic activities commences in November 2016. The relevant faculties will communicate the schedule of practical work directly to the students.

Students in their final year will complete their studies during 2016. It is possible that in some cases the graduation ceremony for these students will be in June 2017 instead of April 2017. This will not prejudice students with bursaries, or committed employment in law firms or other businesses. The university will provide the necessary academic transcripts as proof of the completion of the relevant qualifications. None of these changes will affect postgraduate students.

The university will maintain regular communication with students and parents/guardians to update them on the new exams timetable.Faculties will communicate directly with students about issues related to their programmes.

“One of the areas in which significant progress was made, is that we were able to agree on a basis for stability with student leaders. The student protests occurred during an important time in the university’s academic calendar and the readjustment of our academic programme has put tremendous pressure on academic and support services staff, and created anxieties for parents,” said Prof Nicky Morgan, Acting Rector of the UFS.

“The senior leadership restates its commitment to free education as well as its willingness to stand together with students and other public universities to impress on government the urgency to decide on a time frame for the roll-out of free higher education for the poor and missing middle. We will use the next two weeks to meet with the leadership of Universities South Africa to coordinate collective action in this regard. We will furthermore also roll out a series of activities to inform and educate students and the general public on different models and experiences of providing free higher education,” he said.

The strategy to readjust the 2016 academic year is applicable to students on the Bloemfontein and South Campuses.


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

 

State of our campuses #15: UFS closes campuses until Friday 28 October 2016 to readjust academic programme

State of our campuses #14: All academic activities on UFS campuses remain suspended on 13 and 14 October 2016

State of our campuses #13: Availability of information about plans for remainder of UFS 2016 calendar year

State of our campuses #12: All academic activities at UFS campuses suspended for 11 and 12 October 2016

State of our campuses #11: Academic activities on UFS campuses continue

State of our campuses #10: Impact of non-completion of the 2016 academic year on UFS students 

State of our campuses #9: Academic programme on all UFS campuses to resume on Monday 10 October 2016

State of our campuses #8:  UFS extends vacation as from 28 September until 7 October 2016, 28 September 2016

State of our campuses #7: All three UFS campuses will be closed today, 27 September 2016.

State of our campuses #6: All UFS campuses reopen on Tuesday 27 September 2016

State of our campuses #5: UFS campuses to remain closed on Monday 26 September 2016

State of our campuses #4: Decisions about the UFS academic calendar

State of our campuses #3: UFS campuses closed until Friday 23 September 2016 

State of our campuses #2: UFS Bloemfontein and South Campuses closed on Tuesday 20 September 2016 (19 September 2016)

State of our campuses #1: Academic activities suspended on UFS Bloemfontein Campus (19 September 2016)

 

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