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04 February 2021 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Sonia Small (Kaleidoscope Studio)
Prof Hendri Kroukamp has been appointed to the Accreditation Committee of the International Commission on Accreditation of Public Administration Education and Training.

Prof Hendri Kroukamp, Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), has been appointed to the Accreditation Committee (AC) of the International Commission on the Accreditation of Public Administration Education and Training (ICAPA) in January 2021.

He is serving on this committee with, inter alia, John-Mary Kauzya, Chief of the Public Service Innovation Branch of the United Nations (UN); Lichia Saner-Yiu, President of the Academy for Quality in Training and Education, Geneva, Switzerland; and Allan Rosenbaum, Public Service Adviser to President Joe Biden of the USA and President of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA). 

Ensuring accountability and transparency 

Prof Kroukamp supports the belief that an effective government and public administration are essential in the promotion of economic development and in ensuring the kind of accountability and transparency that are central to sustaining a democratic society. 

He is convinced that high-quality education and training is key in producing effective and accountable public administrators and government officials.

Consequently, he says that providing the highest quality of public administration education and training must be a central objective of all those concerned with promoting and sustaining democratic and prosperous societies. “It is of critical importance to preparing the next generation of public administrators and government officials. The current generation of public administrators and government officials also need constant development in terms of their competencies, skills, and capabilities,” he adds.

Standard of excellence prescribes programmes 

ICAPA, which provides quality assurance services for education and training programmes in public administration, will address these objectives. 

Based on self-evaluation reports and site visits, programmes are confronted with the Standards of Excellence for Public Administration Education and Training. These are jointly developed by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) and the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA). 

Serving on the Accreditation Committee, part of his role will include adopting the accreditation criteria, constituting site-visit teams, deciding on accreditation, submitting the annual plan and report, and serving in this main pool of site reviewers. 

News Archive

Student represents UFS and SA in world orchestra
2015-11-27



The A-list violist, Maja van Dyk 

Among the 100 musicians from 74 countries who performed at the Carnegie Hall in New York as part of the International Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (YPHIL) tour was Maja van Dyk. The viola player was one of two South Africans, and the only University of the Free State (UFS) representative, in the main performance of the tour on 27 September 2015.

“The highlight of the tour was definitely the concert in Carnegie Hall,” said Maja.

The fourth-year BMus student at the UFS Odeion School of Music (OSM) was one of 900 musicians between 18 and 26 years of age who auditioned for the world orchestra.  She reached a major milestone in her music career when she was selected as both our country and our university’s ambassador.

The YPHIL project is a hub for the most powerful young performers from all over the world who spotlight social issues affecting the global collective through music. This objective behind creating one symphonic voice is to unite and empower in an unconventional manner.

Over the years, Maja has gathered a wealth of experience by playing for the MIAGI Youth Orchestra, the South African National Youth Orchestra, the Free State Youth Orchestra, the OSM Camerata, and the Free State Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Bloemfontein and Stellenbosch City Orchestras.

As a member of the National Youth Orchestra, she was invited to tour the country with the world-class Zurich Chamber Orchestra and the Zürcher Kammerorchester in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Her recent international exposure cannot be separated from past stints on the world stage. “I participated in tours of The World Orchestra to Spain and Lebanon, prior to the YPhil tour to New York City this past September,” she said.

The award-winning Maja is currently playing as an ad hoc member for the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. She moved to the Western Cape after she played in her last exam last week.

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