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10 March 2022
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Story Anthony Mthembu
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Photo Unsplash
The No Student Hungry team gearing up to start distributing food parcels to the selected students.
The UFS is one of the many institutions of higher learning where food insecurity is an active issue. However, the
No Student Hungry Programme is one of the initiatives launched at the university to assist in fighting food insecurity at the institution.
The purpose of the programme
Since its inception in 2011, the initiative has assisted many students in acquiring a healthy meal. Additionally, the Food Environment Office also hands out food packages, so that students can continue to achieve academically. “We are trying to develop a healthy environment for students and make it easier for them to have a nice and healthy meal,” stated Annelize Visagie, who heads the Food Environment Office at the UFS. The Food Environment programme is spread out on all three campuses, each with its own facilitators. Furthermore, the programme mainly caters for students who are not funded by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) but who are excelling academically. The abovementioned students apply for assistance online, and a list is then drawn up of students who receive assistance for the year.
Alternative solutions to keep the initiative running
On the Bloemfontein Campus, the No Student Hungry Programme will be catering for 200 students in the 2022 academic year, assisting them with a daily nutritious meal. Additional food parcels are also handed out to provide further assistance. “We give food parcels to the students on the list every Tuesday and Thursday at the Thakaneng Bridge,” Visagie highlighted. However, she argues that catering for the student population through this programme can be a challenge, as the demand for assistance is growing rapidly and the ability to assist is limited. The programme relies on partnerships and sponsors to assist the student body. In fact, the coordinators of the programme currently have a memorandum of understanding with Tiger Brands according to which they deliver around 100 food parcels for distribution.
In addition, the coordinators have put in place alternative measures to ensure that they can provide more food to students. “The
Kovsie Act Office, in partnership with the
Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, has started a food garden where healthy and nutritious produce are grown, in order to add value to the distribution,” she indicated. Although the programme can only assist to a point, students who are in desperate need of assistance are never turned away. In fact, the
Social Support Unit at Thakaneng Bridge usually assists students with food vouchers for a maximum of four days.
A commitment to teaching healthy eating habits
The programme is not only committed to curbing food insecurity, but also to ensuring that students have a healthy and balanced diet. As such, a booklet is being issued by the
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics in collaboration with the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, which contains ways in which students can make a healthy meal using some of the ingredients offered in the food parcels.
“We want to teach students how to eat healthy in the cheapest way, because they don’t have a lot of money to buy expensive food products,” Visagie argued.
UFS appoints a Dean of Education
2009-11-06
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| Prof. Dennis Francis, Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of the Free State (UFS). |
Prof. Dennis Francis from the University of KwaZulu-Natal has been appointed as Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of the Free State (UFS) as from 4 January 2010. He is the first dean of this faculty since it was established at the UFS earlier this year.
Prof. Francis has worked at the University of KwaZulu-Natal since 2002. Prior to his appointment at the UFS he was a Professor in the Faculty of Education and Head of the School of Social Science Education at that institution.
“I am overwhelmed and excited at the same time. Mostly, I feel privileged and honoured to be joining the Faculty of Education,” he said of his appointment.
“The Faculty of Education is newly constituted and there are endless possibilities and potential. So I am really excited to be here.”
“What attracted me to the UFS is the leadership and vision of Prof. Jonathan Jansen, the emergent energy that is here, and the possibilities for transformation and change that exist. But also the warmth and graciousness of the people that I have interacted with,” he said.
Prof. Francis has taught and supervised Master’s and Doctoral students in the area of social justice education, identity studies and sexuality education. He has published numerous articles in refereed national and international journals, chapters in edited collections, and four edited journal special issues. He is also the author of Between Race; Beyond Race. Prof. Francis is the current guest editor of the South African Journal of Higher Education Special Issue on Transformation and Social Cohesion in Higher Education.
He has delivered conference presentations in his fields of research at international conferences in India, USA, Brazil, Thailand, Greece, Malaysia, Mauritius, UK and South Africa, as well as a further fifteen papers at national conferences. At three of these conferences he was an invited speaker. In 2008 he was granted researcher status by the National Research Fund.
Prof. Francis is currently on the editorial boards of two journals and an advisor on two international education conference committees. He also serves as the Chairperson of the Kenton Education Association.
Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Deputy Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za
5 November 2009