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22 September 2021
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Story Michelle Nöthling
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Photo Supplied
Annemarie Le Roux.
“I love working with children.” This is one of the first things Annemarie le Roux mentions when asked to describe herself. This love for children propelled Annemarie into the field of education and she graduated in 2006 with a BEd in Foundation Phase at the UFS. Annemarie immediately immersed herself in the Deaf community, enriching the lives of children at the Thiboloha School for the Deaf in Qwaqwa and the De la Bat School for the Deaf in Worcester.
The academic world enticed Annemarie back to the University of the Free State (UFS) and she was appointed as a junior lecturer in the Department of South African Sign Language (SASL) and Deaf Studies in 2013. Going from strength to strength, Annemarie completed her master’s degree in SASL in 2019, and published an
article earlier this year that she co-wrote with Marga Stander. In this article, they found that SASL “has become an increasingly popular language that hearing university students want to learn as a second language” and subsequently explored different teaching methods used for this emerging group of interested students.
Although now firmly established in academia, Annemarie is still committed to the practical application of SASL. “I am closely involved in student and community engagement through the
SIGNALS Sign Language student association that helps empower the Deaf community and South African Sign Language.” She also interprets for the Deaf community whenever she gets an opportunity, as well as for Deaf students in class and meetings.
On the importance of Sign Language and the recognition of the Deaf community in South Africa, Annemarie believes it will open greater opportunities for development. “More people will be able to learn SASL, and it might even become a subject in school for hearing children.”
Husband and wife make formidable team as they simultaneously receive a PhD
2014-12-12
Stellah Nambalirwa Lubinga and Moses Herbert Lubinga – a married couple – each received their Doctoral degrees at our 2014 Summer Graduation Ceremony. Their PhDs are in Public Administration and Management and Agricultural Economics respectively.
Dr Stellah Lubinga’s thesis is titled ‘The role of democratic rights and obligations of citizens in enhancing public service delivery in Uganda’. Her research makes a valuable contribution to a subject that has been under the spotlight in Uganda for some time. She contends that citizens need to exercise their rights to participate in planning for service delivery. In the absence of their participation, the quality of such services will remain sub-standard. Dr Stellah Lubinga proposes far-reaching interventions for ensuring constructive citizen involvement in the planning processes of service delivery.
Dr Moses Lubinga developed a set of Horticultural indices to be used as proxies in evaluating the impact of climate change on horticultural trade flows to the European Union market. His thesis is titled ‘The impact of climate change and the European Union GSP-Scheme on East Africa’s Horticultural Trade’. His methodological contribution lays the foundation for the future assessment of international trade flows from agriculturally-driven economies in informing policy-makers on the formulation of international trade policy – to the ultimate benefit of the nations in question.
The husband and wife Doctoral graduates originate from Kampala, Uganda, and have lectured and held several other positions in Ugandan and South African educational institutions. They continue to make great contributions in their respective fields of work.