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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

Teacher training key to democracy and freedom
2011-12-06

 

MEC Mr Tate Makgoe (left) with Faculty of Education’s Prof. Dennis Francis, holding the inaugural SURLEC Award. With them is Dr Dipane Hlalele.
Photo: Thabo Kessah

Universities have the responsibility to respond to the challenges that the South African education system is faced with.

This is the view of the Free State MEC for Education, Mr Tate Makgoe, during his address at the three-day First Sustainable Rural Learning Ecologies (SURLEC) Colloquium, which was recently held at the Qwaqwa Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS).
 
“Our universities must not only research the failures of our system. They must also come up with solutions.
 
“One of the questions that demand answers in our country is whether we produce quality teachers at our universities, considering our learners’ performance internationally. Our children lack the basics like grammar and yet we are 17 years into democracy. Why is their performance so poor in comparison to children in poorer countries?” asked Mr Makgoe.
 
“We must work together as a Government and universities to change this. Universities must be anchors of democracy and freedom, which is meaningless if our children cannot read and write. We must also focus on Mathematics and Natural Sciences, not forgetting to value our indigenous knowledge and games to enhance learning, especially in Mathematics,” he said.
 
According to Dr Dipane Hlalele, Head of the Faculty of Education at the UFS Qwaqwa Campus, the colloquium was held to search for best practices and success stories relating to the theme, Creating sustainable rural learning ecologies in the 21st century.
 
“Our objective was to tap into experiences and wisdom of policy makers, researchers, scholars, teachers and students in order to map a new direction in research as well as to make an indelible mark on the revitalisation of this campus,” concluded Dr Hlalele.
 
The UFS Dean of Education, Prof. Dennis Francis’ efforts to improve rural education were honoured with the first ever SURLEC Award.
 
Over 70 research papers from the universities of the Free State, South Africa, Venda, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology were delivered and learners from the local schools like The Beacon, Mafube, Qwaqwa and Clubview presented their winning projects at the Science Expo.

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