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08 August 2023
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Story EDZANI NEPHALELA
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Photo EDZANI NEPHALELA
Mbulelo Aven Jafta, Xhariep Municipality Corporate Services Director, and Dr Engela van Staden, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic at the UFS, sign a memorandum of understanding to enrich various communities in the Xhariep Municipality areas through leadership training.
The University of the Free State (UFS) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and the Xhariep Municipality that is aimed at positively impacting communities through strategic partnerships. The organisations plan for their collaboration to make a significant difference by training 35 of their employees via the UFS Business School – 15 will undertake the Foundation Skills Short Learning Programme, and 20 the Bachelor’s degree in Management Leadership.
This joint effort will equip these employees with essential skills and knowledge and empower them to carry out their responsibilities efficiently and effectively. Rooted in the UFS’s Vision 130, this initiative fosters positive change within the community by enhancing social justice and innovation.
Dr Engela van Staden, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic at the UFS, emphasised the university's dedication to human resource development and empowering individuals. “We were very excited when we got this engagement with you, and I hope it will be fruitful for you, because that’s the intention. We are also reaching out to other municipalities because we are doing it for our country, and the sooner we do it, the better the services you will deliver to people.”
Xhariep Municipality expressed gratitude for the collaboration, recognising its significance in empowering its employees. Mbulelo Aven Jafta, Corporate Services Director at the municipality, thanked the university for accepting the partnership. “As a municipality, we are interested in capacitating our employees to perform their duties optimally. It is through these partnerships that we reach our intended targets. This is the first two projects, and many more will be coming as our partnership progresses, and we intend to use this opportunity to the best of our abilities.”
Jafta said that such partnerships encourage a more interconnected and interdependent world. “As organisations work towards common goals, they create a ripple effect that can lead to a brighter and more promising future and play a vital role in shaping a positive and sustainable future.”
UFS hosts Colloquium on Sexuality, Society and Pedagogy
2013-04-08
10 April 2013
Top researchers in the field of sexuality and education in South Africa will be presenting the first ever colloquium on sexuality education in South Africa in Bloemfontein this month. The colloquium will be hosted by the Faculty of Education at the University of the Free State (UFS), where sexuality education and how the South African Schools System teaches sexuality to youths, will be under the spotlight.
This Colloquium aims to open discussion and debate on how sexuality is taught, and should be taught to South African teens by teachers and society.
Prof Dennis Francis, Dean: Faculty of Education, also explains that the objective of this colloquium is to understand the importance of sexuality education in schools.
Some of the topics up for discussion at the two-day colloquium, entitled Sexuality, Society and Pedagogy, will address issues on mediating sexuality in South African schools, youths with disabilities and sexual identities, homosexuality and homophobia, teaching ‘straight’ in South African communities and the implications thereof. It will also take a closer look at the position and/or repositioning of South African teachers as sexual educators.