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UFS drops wearing of masks on campus

23 June 2022 | Story Lacea Loader

The management of the University of the Free State (UFS) has taken note of the announcement by the Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, in the Government Gazette on 22 June 2022, in which COVID-19 regulations were repealed.

Minister Phaahla stated that, as from 22 June, South Africans no longer have to wear masks, and that limits on gatherings and border checks for COVID-19, as well as the need to be vaccinated in order to enter South Africa, have also been dropped.

The UFS COVID-19 Regulations and Required Vaccination Policy has created an environment that the university management regards as safe. This, together with yesterday’s announcement by the Minister, was considered, and a decision was made that the wearing of masks on campus or in any building on campus is no longer compulsory.

However, the UFS COVID-19 Regulations and Required Vaccination Policy remains in place. Campus access control is still in place, and staff, students, and visitors are expected to upload a COVID-19 vaccination certificate or a negative PCR or antigen test result to obtain access to the campuses.

The wearing of masks is still recommended and will be of value especially in the following instances:

1. For immune-compromised staff, students, and visitors
2. For persons who are ill with, e.g., flu, colds, coughs, etc.

In the case of staff and students working in public and private hospitals, or any other external laboratory/facility, the wearing of masks is determined by the hospital or the external laboratory/facility and not by the UFS. In any other environment where students or staff are under the regulations of external organisations, these regulations will take precedence.

Staff and students are encouraged to feel free to continue wearing masks, including those with comorbidities, as masks have been shown to be helpful in preventing the spread of respiratory diseases. Good health-care behaviour remains important as COVID-19 is still a reality.

The university management will decide in due course on the possible upliftment of restrictions on public gatherings.

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Marketing)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za

News Archive

UFS hosts Commonwealth universities

2005-08-25

The University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein will host delegates from 14 universities across the Commonwealth next week as part of a programme to measure and promote excellence in university management.

The workshop will be held from Monday, 29 August to Wednesday, 31 August 2005 as part of the Commonwealth University Management Benchmarking Programme, run by the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU).

It is the first time that the UFS will host the workshop and the second time that it is held in South Africa.

“The purpose of the programme is to promote and measure excellence in university management. Unlike other university benchmarking programmes that focus on matters such as research output, the programme run by the ACU follows a process benchmarking approach and aims to identify and promote best practice and quality assurance,” said Prof Magda Fourie, Vice-Rector: Academic Planning at the UFS.

According to Prof Fourie the programme runs on an annual basis and works on a quality improvement cycle. Every year certain areas of university management are evaluated by a panel of international assessors. This year it focuses on strategic planning, recruitment and retention of staff, and branding.
If weaknesses are identified, plans are compiled which should result in an upward spiral of continued quality improvement.

“The UFS has been taking part in the programme for the past five years. Last year we fared particularly well with the evaluation of our change management and engagement with the community,” said Prof Fourie.

“The ACU benchmarking programme is a useful forum in which we can measure ourselves against our peers. It will also help us to prepare for the audit of the effectiveness of our quality assurance policies and systems, which will be conducted in October 2006 by the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) of the Council for Higher Education (CHE),” said Prof Fourie.

Other universities that will take part in the workshop include the Leeds Metropolitan University, the University of Glamorgan in the United Kingdom, the University of Northern British Columbia in Canada, the Central Queensland University, the Monash University in Australia, and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits).

Media release
Issued by:  Lacea Loader
   Media Representative
   Tel: (051) 401-2584
   Cell: 083 645 2454
   E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
25 August 2005

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