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A partnership to boost isiZulu and Sesotho has been penned

11 November 2022 | Story Edzani Nephalela and Dr Nomalungelo Ngubane | Photo iStock

The UFS and UKZN have formalised an agreement on a Language Collaboration Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to advance the development of the Sesotho and IsiZulu as academic languages.

The University of the Free State (UFS) has forged an exciting new partnership with the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) to promote the two provinces’ most widely spoken languages, Sesotho and IsiZulu.

This historic collaboration will see these institutions employing their skills, expertise, and resources to advance the development of the Sesotho and IsiZulu as academic languages through the development of terminology for various disciplines and research collaborations among other activities.

The UFS formalised the agreement by signing a Language Collaboration Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with UKZN. The MOU process, facilitated by Dr Nomalungelo Ngubane, Director of the UFS Academy for Multilingualism, and Nikile Ntsababa, UFS Registrar, was sealed by Dr Engela Van Staden, UFS Vice-Rector: Academic.

The objectives of the collaboration are to:

• allow the UFS open access to all the UKZN isiZulu materials and UKZN open access to all UFS Sesotho language terminology, corpus materials, terminology banks, and applications for various disciplines;

• develop the Sesotho terminology for various disciplines;

• assist in identifying and closing any gaps in the UFS’s development of isiZulu terminology and in the UKZN’s development of isiZulu, and further develop the relevant language terminology of various disciplines in order to fill any existing gaps;

• share expertise through hosting webinars, seminars, colloquia, and workshops on Sesotho and isiZulu terminology development;

• explore research opportunities regarding the development of Sesotho and isiZulu terminology for various disciplines; and

• share expertise and resources in all human language technology development initiatives.

“The UKZN has championed the intellectualisation of IsiZulu over the years. We do not want to reinvent the wheel,” Dr Ngubane said. “Our focus now is on the acceleration of the development of Sesotho. Our vision and mission is to be the hub for the advancement of Sesotho at regional, national, and international levels. Collaboration with UKZN is instrumental in achieving this mandate.”

The Academy for Multilingualism said it considers this collaboration historic and groundbreaking because resources will now be invested in the development of Sesotho.

News Archive

Significant boost for infrastructure development

2012-12-28

The University of the Free State (UFS) recently received a significant boost for its infrastructure development with the approval of infrastructure projects totalling
R333,600 million by the Department of Higher Education and Training for the next three years.

The funding includes cost sharing, with the department contributing R208,394 million and the UFS contributing an amount of R125,206 million.

The UFS Council approved the projects and the cost sharing during the last meeting for the year on 16 November 2012.

“We are elated by the generous funding received from the department as it will assist us in fast-tracking our infrastructure development, providing in the increasing need for new and upgraded facilities at all three campuses,” said Prof. Nicky Morgan, Vice-Rector: Operations.

The projects include:

Upgrading and new disability access to various buildings on the Bloemfontein, South and Qwaqwa Campuses;
A building in Kimberley, which will be shared by the School for Allied Health Professionals and Nursing;
Upgrading and extension of the biotechnology and nutrition facilities, additional infrastructure for the Department of Physics and the upgrading of an extension to the genetic sciences facilities on the Bloemfontein Campus;
A new 250-bed student residence on the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campusus, respectively;
Facilities for the Faculty of Education;
Six lecture rooms on the South Campus;
Upgrading of the interpreting laboratory and the development of an audio-visual production facility for recording of lectures on the Bloemfontein Campus;
Provision of office space for the Centre for Teaching and Learning on the Bloemfontein Campus;
Lecture halls and a laboratory for the Department of Geography and Tourism on the Qwaqwa Campus; and
Funding of additional infrastructure for the Department of Physics on the Qwaqwa Campus.

“The department made special mention of the way the UFS manages its infrastructure and efficiency funding when the announcement about the allocation of funds was made. This is a feather in our cap as the department has been referring other higher education institutions to the UFS for advice on infrastructure development,” he said.

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