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Shining a light on student protest – join the discussion

24 May 2022

The Faculty of the Humanities will be hosting a round-table dialogue on ‘Humanistic Perspectives on Student Protests in South Africa’, an important discussion on a matter that is currently in the spotlight at the UFS and other institutions nationally. Both students and staff are invited to attend in-person or virtually.

The dialogue aims to discuss ‘humanistic perspectives’ on student protests and includes, among others, the following topics:

• Dynamics of student protests

• The relationship between politics and protests

• Why protests are a challenge for the higher education secto

• Possible responses to protests by universities.

Event details

In-person venue: Equitas Auditorium
Online platform: Microsoft Teams
Date: 30 May 2022
Time: 14:00-16:15

Moderator:

Dr Grey Magaiza

Panellists:

Prof Francis Petersen (Rector and Vice-Chancellor

Prof Sethulego Matebesi (Department of Sociology)

Prof Nyasha Mboti (Department of Communication Science)

Prof Joy Owen (Department of Anthropology)

Prof Colin Chasi (Unit for Institutional Change and Social Justice)

Mr Motlogeloa Moema (Student Affairs)

Opening remarks:

Prof Chitja Twala, Vice-Dean: Faculty of the Humanities

Closing remarks:

Prof Heidi Hudson, Dean: Faculty of the Humanities

News Archive

"We cannot train for unemployment"

2009-11-16

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.”

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