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Student Affairs Celebrates Arts Week: 22-29 October 2021

21 October 2021 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa

The University of the Free State (UFS) Arts and Culture office invites all Kovsie students to enjoy the soothing sounds of music and poetry performed by students from all three UFS campuses during the Student Affairs Arts Week from 22 to 29 October 2021.

For a full Arts Week experience, visit https://www.ufs.ac.za/studentlifeartsweek where a new video will be activated daily for an exciting week-long festival.

Together with the Arts Week, a COVID-19 Vaccination Drive will take place physically on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus and on virtual platforms. The drive will host medical experts to discuss and address the concerns that students have about vaccination.

Click here for more information on the Student Affairs Vaccination Drive.

The university is developing a COVID-19 Regulations and Mandatory Vaccination Policy to ensure a safe environment for all UFS staff and students upon their physical return to campus in 2022.

All students are therefore encouraged to make the responsible choice to keep themselves and others safe by educating themselves through the vaccination drive.

The Student Affairs Arts Week comes after the Campus Principal of the UFS South Campus and team leader of Institutional Health and Wellness for staff and students, Dr Maria Madiope, expressed concern about how COVID-19 cursed humanity. She previously stated that both student and staff morale has been challenged and affected immensely, and she encouraged the Arts and Culture office to use the arts to boost morale and give hope.

Mr Temba Hlasho, UFS Executive Director of Student Affairs, also expressed concern about the level of student engagement and how music and song, particularly choral music, are well known for its therapeutic and healing abilities for people when tackling various life challenges.

The Bloemfontein Choir is set to pay tribute to all students, staff, family, and UFS loved ones who have been lost since the beginning of the pandemic.

May the music and poetry give you hope for the approaching final year-end exams and the festive season.

For more information on Arts Week, contact Lucy Sehloho at sehloholp@ufs.ac.za

News Archive

"We cannot train for unemployment"

2009-11-16

The prestige forum was attended by, from the left: Prof. Dirk van Damme, Head of the Centre for Education research and innovation at OECD in Paris, France; Dr Saretha Brüssow of the Planning Unit: Teaching and Learning; Mr Francois Marais, Director of CHESD; Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor; Prof. Driekie Hay, Vice-Rector Academic Planning and the guest speaker; and Prof. Magda Fourie of the University of Stellenbosch.
Photo: Gerhard Louw

“We cannot train for unemployment. We must continuously look at what employers and the world want, and update,” Prof. Magda Fourie, Vice-Rector: Teaching and Learning at the University of Stellenbosch, recently said at a prestige forum for teaching and learning at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Prof. Fourie, former Vice-Rector: Academic Planning at the UFS delivered the second Magda Fourie Prestige Lecture at the forum. The forum was presented by the Centre for Higher Education Studies and Learning (CHESD) and the Planning Unit: Teaching and Learning. Various presentations were made on innovations in teaching and learning at the UFS.

Prof. Fourie said research has shown that the knowledge, skills, competencies and values of students are out of sync with the needs of the world out there. Higher Education must look at the context in which it operates and the relevance of its teaching and learning. “We are busy with the cultivation of humanity,” she said.

The UFS is doing excellent work with its bridging programmes and other universities will have to give attention to it. The UFS is also excellent in its extended programmes and have more women and foreign students than the national average. The UFS, however, has a lower percentage of black students than the national average.

The UFS is also excellent in terms of postgraduate students. The national average is 36%, with the UFS boasting 47%. Prof. Fourie expressed her concern for the low throughput in Business and Economics at the UFS where only 13% of those who enter the system graduate. “These are the people we need for this country’s economy.”

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