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04 January 2021 | Story Nonsindiso Qwabe | Photo Anja Aucamp
Dr Sekanse Ntsala

Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences and Language Education at the University of Free State, Dr Sekanse Ntsala, collaborated with colleagues from eight universities across South Africa to produce instructional reading strategies for Sesotho and isiZulu students in the Faculty of Education.

The project will see Dr Ntsala partner in the production of learning material in Sesotho and IsiZulu for Foundation and Intermediate phase lecturers, academics, and students. The project is centred in the Centre for African Language Teaching at the University of Johannesburg. 

Designing African language material is a progressive move 

He said there was a gap in the learning material currently being produced, as it was all produced in English, even for African languages. 

"The dilemma is that thus far, all the material that we use for teaching has been written in English. This means that lecturers have to rely on material written in English, and in some instances, they have to translate into the relevant African language. The challenge with translation is that the final product does not always come out the same. You find that even when lecturers have to compile study guides, they still have to rely on the same material. It's a challenge that affects even students themselves, as discussions and assessments have to be done in the African language in question."

He said rather than to translate the content that has been written in English, the collaboration will result in newly created material for Sesotho and IsiZulu.

The two languages were selected as pilot languages; Dr Ntsala said the aim of the project is to expand the creation of material to other languages in order to eliminate English as the main focus in teaching.

"The main rationale is that it's only fair that we have material that will be relevant to a particular language. The manner in which it is happening now is sort of degrading to other languages," he said.

Dr Ntsala said the material would be completed by the end of 2020 and would then go through the process of getting approval from the deaneries of the approved universities, as well as from the Department of Education.

"We are trying to ensure that every language gets recognition in classrooms. Having material that is language-specific is a step in the right direction to ensure that each language is given the respect it deserves."

News Archive

School of Medicine boasts with a new unit
2013-02-22

 

New Clinical Skills Simulation unit is one of its kind.
Photo: Supplied
22 February 2013


The Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) can now boasts with a new Medical Clinical Skills Simulation unit (MCSU) at the School of Medicine.

This newly established Clinical Simulation Unit is the first dedicated clinical simulation unit of its kind in South Africa. It was opened on Thursday 21 February 2013.

This facility is equipped with an operating theatre, Intensive Care Unit, two simulation and three private rooms.

In addition, the Unit has control rooms with cameras for recording purposes and debriefing facilities, the latter with video equipment for playback of recorded scenarios.

The Simulation Unit at the UFS’ School of Medicine is based on accredited units in the USA and the UK.

Dr Mathys Labuschagne, Head of the Simulation Unit, says the concept for this kind of unit is still new, but is already a very important part of clinical skills training in the health professions.

“We are the only university in South Africa with a unit dedicated to clinical skills simulation only and not a combination of clinical skills training which includes some simulation.”

The primary goal of the MCSU is to provide educational opportunities to undergraduate and postgraduate medical students, as well as opportunities for other healthcare students in the Faculty of Health Sciences, to be exposed to inter-professional skills training. The MCSU will play a role in quality assurance of training and assessment, as well as research.

The aim of the Clinical Simulation Unit is to provide a facility where medical and other healthcare students or professionals can be exposed to:

  • Training in a safe environment.
  • Training without harm to the patient.
  • Scenario-based learning.
  • Debriefing.

The facility will also be utilised for post-qualification refresher and training courses.

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