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15 June 2021 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath | Photo Supplied
Prof Philippe Burger (Vice-Dean in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, UFS) and Mr Busani Ncgaweni (Principal, NSG) at the NSG signing ceremony in Pretoria, 3 June 2021.
Prof Philippe Burger (Vice-Dean in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, UFS) and Mr Busani Ncgaweni (Principal, NSG) at the NSG signing ceremony in Pretoria, 3 June 2021.

The University of the Free State Business School has been appointed as a service provider of the National School of Government (NSG) to provide education, training, and development programmes to the public sector for a period of five years.  The UFS was one of ten South African higher education institutions (HEIs) selected to perform the functions, the objective being to expand the skills base of the public sector in line with government’s commitment to create   a capable, ethical, and developmental public service.

 

Prof Philippe Burger, Vice-Dean (Strategic Projects) in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, joined Mr Busani Ncgaweni, Principal of the National School of Government, and senior executives of ten HEIs at the signing ceremony in Pretoria on 3 June 2021 to seal the partnership with the UFS and the NSG.  “The University of the Free State, and in particular the UFS Business School, takes pride in establishing a partnership with the National School of Government (NSG),” says Prof Burger. The aim of this partnership is the professionalisation of the civil service through a number of activities. These include the UFS offering short learning programmes that will assist the NSG in its aim to create a capable state in line with the objectives of the National Development Plan.

 

A call for partnerships with higher education institutions (HEIs) was issued by the NSG in 2020 through an open bid process, followed by the successful selection of ten institutions that met the criteria to perform the education, training, and development functions. The institutions will be appointed from time to time for specific projects.

 

The UFS joins the University of Fort Hare, Nelson Mandela University, University of Pretoria, Tshwane University of Technology, University of Johannesburg, Rhodes Business School, Durban University of Technology, Stellenbosch University, and North-West University to partner with the NSG.

 

The partnership will make public servants and employees of all organs of state eligible to enrol for programmes on a cost recovery basis. The partnership will allow for the expansion of the scope of professional development for public sector employees and leaders, and in some cases help participants with the recognition of prior learning, while also opening opportunities for further study in relevant fields.

 

Some of the key deliverables of the partnership will be the development and review of curricula in various areas related to public sector performance and development, quality assurance, and joint certification of programmes. The partnership will also entail the co-development and delivery of NSG programmes, undertaking research projects with the NSG, as well as the provision of coaching and mentoring services to various levels of public sector officials.

News Archive

UFS in forefront with ASGI-SA initiative
2006-05-10

At the conceptualisation colloquium and stakeholder dialogue were from the left Dr Aldo Stroebel (senior researcher at the UFS Research Development Directorate), Dr Edith Vries (acting Chief Executive Officer of the Independent Development Trust) and Prof Frans Swanepoel (Director: UFS Research Development Directorate).

UFS in forefront with ASGI-SA initiative

Two staff members of the University of the Free State (UFS) have been appointed as members of the advisory board of the national programme for the creation of small enterprises and jobs in the second economy.  This programme forms part of government’s Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (ASGI-SA).

Prof Frans Swanepoel, Director of the UFS Research Development Directorate and Dr Aldo Stroebel, senior researcher at the UFS Research Development Directorate, are working with a team of experts from the UFS on a draft implementation strategy for the national programme.  Both Prof Swanepoel and Dr Stroebel are also associated to the UFS Centre for Sustainable Agriculture.
 
“The strategy is being developed in collaboration with institutions like the Independent Development Trust, the Department of Agriculture, the National Development Agency and the Department of Trade and Industry,” says Prof  Swanepoel.  

The other team members of the UFS are Prof Basie Wessels, Director of the  Mangaung-University Community Partnership Programme (MUCPP) and Mr  Benedict Mokoena, project manager at the MUCPP.

Dr Stroebel was also member of the organising committee of a conceptualisation colloquium and stakeholder dialogue that was recently presented in Johannesburg.  The conference was attended by more than 400 delegates from government departments, higher-education institutions and civil society, including Dr Kobus Laubscher, member of the UFS Council.

The conference was facilitated by Ms Vuyo Mahlati, previously from the WK Kellogg Foundation’s Africa programme and opened by Ms Thoko Didiza, Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs.   

“The colloquium formed the basis of an induction workshop during which a group of 150 individuals (50 teams of three) from all nine provinces, identified to initiate the implementation of the national programme, was trained and orientated towards an induction manual in collaboration with Hand-in-Hand, an Indian counterpart,” says Prof Swanepoel.

Dr Stroebel and Mr Benedict Mokoena formed part of the team to conceptualise and finalise this training manual.  The induction training includes a case study of a successful community self-help partnership model, namely the MUCPP at the UFS. Prof Wessels and Mr Mokoena are both playing a leading role in the further development of subsequent training initiatives throughout South Africa, in partnership with the relevant provincial departments.

“The involvement of the UFS in the programme is a compliment to us.  It reflects the value government sees in the use of academics and experts in the management of the ASGI-SA initiative.  It is also an indication of one of the aims of the UFS to play a role in South Africa and Africa and in the transformation and change that is taking place in our country,” says Prof Swanepoel.  

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:   (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
10 May 2006

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