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07 December 2022 | Story Samkelo Fetile
Students from the UFS Department of Economic and Management Science
Students from the UFS Department of Economic and Management Science attend the British Council’s Innovation for African Universities (IAU) Programme.
The British Council’s Innovation for African Universities (IAU) Programme brings together universities across sub-Saharan Africa and the UK with organisations supporting sub-Saharan African ecosystems. The programme aims to grow universities’ capabilities for fostering innovation and entrepreneurship.

Supporting youth social entrepreneurship

The Supporting Youth Social Entrepreneurship (SYSE) project is part of the IAU programme, and includes 24 projects (in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa) funded through the IAU programme. The SYSE project is being delivered by the University of the Free State (UFS) Centre for Development Support, working with Challenges Ghana and Scotland’s Glasgow Caledonian University. 

Professor Deidre Van Rooyen, Associate Professor at the Centre for Development Support, said, “The programme teaches students in terms of social justice, creating change in communities, and making a difference, which all aligns with our vision as UFS.” The project trained 50 students on aspects of social entrepreneurship, and groups of five were matched with 10 NGOs.  In this way the knowledge they gained was transferred to community projects. “Ultimately, these organisations are now able to become more self-sustainable.”   

Prof Van Rooyen added that the project benefits the UFS as it also touches on the University’s three main pillars. “Teaching, research, and engaged scholarship are what the UFS aspires to do and, through that, students can gain not only theoretical knowledge but practical and soft skills to assist with social changes in society. By working with NGOs and applying social entrepreneurial principles and practice to generate measurable and meaningful outcomes, students will improve (self-) employability and social impact experiences. Students will further obtain hard social and economic skills.”

She concluded that, “If we for example have trained 40 students through the project, as well as teaching programmes in 10 NGOs, just think what type of social impact we can create within the region – touching lives of children, vulnerable people, the elderly, youth, and more.” 


The University will learn later this month whether the British Council will award further funding to the project. 

News Archive

Six Kovsies Stanford College
2014-05-30


Back, from the left: Rudi Buys (Dean: Student Affairs), Philip Kitsopoulos (BCom Law), Ulrich Kristen (Medicine) and Stephan Erasmus (Medicine).
Front, from the left: Sebabatso Makafane (Nursing), Kaylene Pillay (Psychology) and Vuyisile Kubeka (BA Media and Journalism).

Six Kovsie students were selected to attend a three-week seminar at the Stanford Sophomore Collegein September 2014.

Stanford Sophomore College (SoCo) is an immersive learning experience. Participants attend class meetings during the morning and afternoons include class activities, explorations of Stanford, field trips and organised events.

UFS students were invited to apply for one of six SoCo courses in February 2014. After the long wait, the successful Kovsie applicants were recently announced.

The names of these outstanding Kovsie students are:

  • Sebabatso Makafane, Vuyisile Kubeka and Philip Kitsopoulos – all attending the New Millennium Mix: Crossings of Race and Culture course,
  • Ulrich Kristen – attending the Resistance Writings in Nazi Germany course,
  • Kaylene Pillay – attending the Ghost Stories: Why the Dead Return and What They Want From Us course, and
  • Stephan Erasmus– attending the Responses to the AIDS Epidemic course.

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