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National multiplication training on internationalisation in South Africa

09 March 2022 | Story Dr Cornelius Hagenmeier

The University of Venda (Univen) and the University of the Free State (UFS) have been awarded a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies (DIES) National Multiplication Trainings (NMT) programme to implement training on internationalisation for higher education leaders and managers. It is co-funded by the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) and the two coordinating universities. Two emerging internationalisation managers, Mr Matome Mokoena (UFS) and Mrs Nontlanhla Ntakana (Univen), are coordinating the programme, which is supported by DAAD with 25 000 euros.

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.

News Archive

UFS to honour past and present Cabinet ministers

2010-04-19

The University of the Free State (UFS) is going to confer honorary doctoral degrees on former Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, Dr Ben Ngubane, and the current Minister of Finance, Mr Pravin Gordhan, during the university’s autumn graduation ceremony next month.

They will receive their honorary doctorates on 18 and 19 May respectively.

“It is an honour for the UFS to confer these honorary doctorates on people like these who have made, and continue to make outstanding contributions towards the wellbeing of this beautiful country. Being associated with people of this stature signifies the direction that the UFS is taking in our quest to be a great university, one of the best in the world,” said Prof. Jonathan Jansen, the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.

Dr Ngubane will be honoured for his immense contribution towards positioning South Africa as a major and an influential player in the development of arts, culture, science and technology internationally.

He was the first Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology in the new, democratic South Africa appointed by the former President, Nelson Mandela, in 1994. He was re-appointed to lead this ministry again by former President Thabo Mbeki in 1999.

As Premier of KwaZulu-Natal from 1996 to 1999, Dr Ngubane is credited for his role in bringing about peace and reducing the political violence that ravaged the province at that time.

In 2004 he was appointed as Ambassador to Japan where he initiated, among other projects, the South Africa-Japan University Forum (SAJU).
He has been honoured for outstanding contributions to higher education and community development and holds Honorary Doctorates from the universities of Natal, Zululand, the Medical University of South Africa (Medunsa) and the Tshwane University of Technology.

He is currently the Chairperson of the SABC Board.

Minister Gordhan, on the other hand, formed an integral part of the constitutional transition of South Africa between 1991 and 1994. He chaired the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) Management Committee – the midwife and negotiating forum for a free South Africa. He was also co-chair of the Transitional Executive Council, which was a governance structure tasked with ensuring South Africa’s transition process prior to the historic 1994 elections.

In 1994, with the dawn of a new democracy in South Africa, Mr Gordhan became a Member of Parliament and was elected as Chairperson of the Parliamentary Constitutional Committee, which oversaw the implementation of the new constitutional order. At the same time he played a leading role in drafting the present constitution of the democratic South Africa. He also led the process of formulating a new policy framework for local government transformation.

Mr Gordhan was appointed as Deputy Commissioner at the South African Revenue Service (SARS) in March 1998 after being deployed from Parliament as part of the government’s drive to transform the public service. The following year he was appointed as Commissioner for SARS with the important task, amongst others, to transform South Africa’s Customs and Revenue administration – a strategic governmental institution.

He has represented South Africa in many international undertakings, including several peacekeeping missions, as Chairperson of the Customs Workshop for the Second Global Forum on Fighting Corruption and Safe-Guarding Integrity (2001), and is often called upon to make presentations at tax seminars and customs conferences.

In 2000 he was appointed Chairperson of the Council of World Customs Organisation (WCO), based in Brussels, a position to which he was re-elected twice, thus serving from 2000 to 2006.

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt@ufs.ac.za
19 April 2010

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