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19 January 2021 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Unsplash
The second annual International Scholarship and Mobility Fair offered both UFS staff and students the opportunity to ask questions and get answers right away, with links to detailed information.
The Office for International Affairs hosted its annual International Scholarship and Mobility Fair on 3 and 4 November 2020. This is the second annual mobility fair and the first time that it was hosted in virtual format on Blackboard Collaborative. The event showcased study-abroad opportunities for all registered students and staff. 

Staff too can enrol for studies abroad

In the mobility and exchange programme session, the UFS international partner universities presented study, teaching, and training opportunities available to students and staff on their campuses. Staff have also learnt that they can enrol for exchange programmes at any of more than 60 international universities to teach, conduct research, or collaborate to enhance their professional development.

Another session promoted scholarship opportunities for postgraduate students who would like to study abroad full- or part-time. The last session promoted research-related study opportunities such as PhD, fellowships, and academically associated opportunities. Postgraduate students have learnt about joint degrees at master’s and doctoral level, which allows them to register at the UFS and another university abroad.

Student support through scholarships 

The sessions aimed to attract and also support talented students with a scholarship – despite the current pandemic.


Participants liked that it was easily accessible and that they could ask questions and get answers right away, with links to detailed information. 

To view these sessions, please visit the UFS international webpage on the following link:

News Archive

There’s more to media freedom than the Secrecy Bill
2012-05-04

4 May 2012

 “Media freedom is a universal human right. It cannot be abolished, but it should be managed.” The freedom of the media is protected by numerous formal documents, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the South African Constitution, and is commemorated annually with the celebration of World Press Freedom Day.

 “As long as those in power have something to hide, media freedom will be under threat. This is a war that takes place on many fronts,” says Ms Willemien Marais, a journalism lecturer at the Department of Communication Science at the University of the Free State (UFS).

“On the one hand we have to take a stand against institutional threats such as the proposed Protection of State Information Bill. This is diametrically opposed to everything that media freedom and freedom of expression encapsulates.

“But on the other hand we also need to educate and transform our society. It is not only up to journalists to defend media freedom. Newspaper reports on the public hearings on this Bill earlier this year proved that ignorance concerning media freedom is a big threat. The lack of resistance against the Secrecy Bill from the general population clearly illustrates that people aren’t aware of what they are about to lose.”

 Ms Marais says the rise of social media and the accompanying awareness of individual freedom of expression have paved the way for more people to exercise this right. “The role of social media in the Arab Spring has been highlighted numerous times. The power of social media is undeniable – but alas, so is the lack of access to especially social media. We can only increase media literacy if we increase people’s access to the media – new and traditional.”

A high level of media literacy is also vital following last month’s recommendation by the Press Freedom Commission of a system of independent co-regulation for South Africa’s print media. This system proposes replacing government regulation with a panel consisting of representatives from the print industry as well as members of the general public. “It is abundantly clear that this system can only work if those members of the general public are media literate and understand the role of media freedom in protecting democracy.”

“The media is not a sentient being – it consists of and is run by people, and human beings are fallible. Protecting media freedom does not only mean fighting institutional threats. It also means increasing media literacy by educating people. And it means owning up to your mistakes, and correcting it.” 

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