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09 March 2022
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Story Dr Cornelius Hagenmeier
Internationalisation professionals attending the Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies National Multiplication Training workshop at the UFS.
Dr Segun Obadire (Univen) and
Dr Cornelius Hagenmeier (UFS), who serve as directors responsible for the international offices at their universities, are part of the training committee. The theme of the training programme is ‘Enabling Internationalisation in Light of the 2020 Policy Framework for Internationalisation of Higher Education in South Africa 2022’; it comprises two training workshops and several virtual engagements. The first training workshop was held at the UFS from 1 to 3 March 2022.
Trendsetters
Mrs Nontlanhla Ntakana and Mr Matome Mokoena are alumni of the biannual DAAD DIES Training Course on Management of Internationalisation (MOI) at the
Leibniz University Hannover in Germany. They seized the opportunity to forge a multiplication training that would impact internationalisation leaders and managers from across South Africa and empower them to leverage the 2020 Policy Framework for Internationalisation of Higher Education in South Africa to advance the internationalisation process at their institutions.
Internationalisation experts
Dr Nico Jooste and Mrs Merle Hodges served as external experts on the training committee. Both are internationally renowned experts in the field and former presidents of the
International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA). Mr Leolyn Jackson (Central University of Technology, CUT) and Prof Lynette Jacobs (UFS) also contributed to the first training workshop.
Structure
This programme commenced in February, with participants engaging in topical readings and submitting their first assignment. First, a virtual workshop introduced participants to the UNIVEN Moodle e-learning platform used for the course. The face-to-face workshop at the UFS will be followed by a second in-person training at the University of Venda in September 2022. Virtual workshops and support of the participants through a dedicated WhatsApp group and other mentorship programmes will ensure the continuity of the training between the face-to-face workshops. Participants who were unable to attend the UFS and UNIVEN workshops in person could participate via a virtual link, thus ensuring that no participant is left behind.
Participants
Twenty participants from eight public higher education institutions were selected by the training committee to participate in the training programme. Two participants from this year’s NMT cohort were also accepted into the DIES MOI course at the Leibniz University Hannover in Germany. They are
Prof Nontokozo Mashiya from the University of Zululand (Unizulu) and Mbali Mkhize from the
Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT). Participants in the first workshop have indicated that they gained a lot from the numerous exercises and activities in the programme. They also mentioned that the programme would change the outlook of internationalisation at their universities in the future.
"We cannot train for unemployment"
2009-11-16
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The prestige forum was attended by, from the left: Prof. Dirk van Damme, Head of the Centre for Education research and innovation at OECD in Paris, France; Dr Saretha Brüssow of the Planning Unit: Teaching and Learning; Mr Francois Marais, Director of CHESD; Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor; Prof. Driekie Hay, Vice-Rector Academic Planning and the guest speaker; and Prof. Magda Fourie of the University of Stellenbosch.
Photo: Gerhard Louw |
“We cannot train for unemployment. We must continuously look at what employers and the world want, and update,” Prof. Magda Fourie, Vice-Rector: Teaching and Learning at the University of Stellenbosch, recently said at a prestige forum for teaching and learning at the University of the Free State (UFS).
Prof. Fourie, former Vice-Rector: Academic Planning at the UFS delivered the second Magda Fourie Prestige Lecture at the forum. The forum was presented by the Centre for Higher Education Studies and Learning (CHESD) and the Planning Unit: Teaching and Learning. Various presentations were made on innovations in teaching and learning at the UFS.
Prof. Fourie said research has shown that the knowledge, skills, competencies and values of students are out of sync with the needs of the world out there. Higher Education must look at the context in which it operates and the relevance of its teaching and learning. “We are busy with the cultivation of humanity,” she said.
The UFS is doing excellent work with its bridging programmes and other universities will have to give attention to it. The UFS is also excellent in its extended programmes and have more women and foreign students than the national average. The UFS, however, has a lower percentage of black students than the national average.
The UFS is also excellent in terms of postgraduate students. The national average is 36%, with the UFS boasting 47%. Prof. Fourie expressed her concern for the low throughput in Business and Economics at the UFS where only 13% of those who enter the system graduate. “These are the people we need for this country’s economy.” |