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UFS dean contributes to education quality assurance through Umalusi council appointment

23 June 2022 | Story Nonsindiso Qwabe | Photo Sonia Small (Kaleidoscope Studios)

Prof Loyisa Jita — Member of sixth Umalusi Council, Prof Loyiso Jita

Dean of Education and SANRAL Chair in Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Technology Education, Prof Loyiso Jita, has been appointed as a member of the sixth Umalusi Council for General and Further Education and Training quality assurance for 2022-2026.

Umalusi council members are appointed by the Minister of Education for their professional expertise in education and training. The council is formally mandated to research matters related to the sub-framework of qualifications responsible for the General and Further Education and Training qualifications. Prof Jita will be playing a governance role in Umalusi as an organisation.

Appointment a recognition of contribution to quality assurance systems

Sharing his sentiments on the appointment, Prof Jita said it was an affirmation of his dedication to delivering quality education in the country. “Being on the council is further recognition of one’s contribution to the quality assurance systems of the country and an elevation of the role in decision-making. The council, for instance, provides final approval of Grade 12 national results in public and private schools.”

He previously served on one of the Umalusi sub-committees responsible for assessment and standards, also known as the Grade 12 Standardisation Committee.

The sixth council will meet for the first time in September for induction and allocating specific roles to members.

Prof Jita joined the UFS in 2012. In 2014, the University of the Free State (UFS), in partnership with the South African National Roads Agency, launched the SANRAL Chair in Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education on the Bloemfontein Campus, and Prof Jita was appointed as the first SANRAL Chair. In 2017, he was appointed as Dean of Education.

News Archive

UFS gets support for improving university access and success in South Africa

2013-10-24

Members of the SASSE Research team are from left: Carike Jordaan, Dr Francois Strydom, Lana Swart, Seisho Gaboutlwelweboutlwelwakemo, Michael Henn en Katleho Nyaile.
Photo: Supplied
24 October 2013

The university’s Centre of Teaching and Learning (CTL) received a grant for US$820 000 (about R8 million) from the Kresge Foundation for their South African Survey of Student Engagement (SASSE) research team.

The SASSE research team is committed to furthering student access with success by promoting quality teaching and learning institutionally and promoting collective impact around student success nationally.

Through this three-year project, the SASSE team aims to provide a range of deeply contextualised and globally benchmarked student engagement measures that can be used at institutional and module/course level for the South African context. The data from these measures can be used to improve the quality of undergraduate teaching and learning, and participating institutions will have access to appropriate capacity development interventions to empower them to use the data to promote evidence-based change in their institutions.

Dr Francois Strydom, Academic Director at the CTL, says the lessons from this higher-education project could be used to develop a stronger post-school sector which could help the country to deal with the massive challenge of youth unemployment; thereby promoting equity, social justice and a prosperous democracy in South Africa.

The Kresge Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation in the United States, which is focused on creating opportunity for low-income people through various programmes. This three-year project forms part of the Kresge Foundation’s Education Programme, which focuses on promoting access and success at South African universities. Therefore the SASSE project aims to contribute to the Kresge-sponsored Access and Success in Higher Education in South Africa (ASHESA), to promote a national conversation on improving student success.

In January this year, the university was one of four South African universities selected to take part in a multi-million rand programme to bolster private fund-raising and advancement efforts. For this programme the UFS was granted US$640 000 (about R5,6 million) over a period of five years.

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