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Embark on your academic journey: UFS 2024 registration guide

14 December 2023 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Supplied

The University of the Free State (UFS) warmly welcomes its future, present, and returning students to an exciting academic year, where opportunities for growth, learning, and community abound. As a proud member of the vibrant UFS family, get ready to dive into a world of knowledge and experiences that will shape your future. The UFS strongly urges all incoming first-year and senior students to frequent the registration website for a complete and detailed overview of essential information.

Important dates to remember

All new first-year students, mark your calendars for essential dates:

Curriculum advice and registration: 5-9 February 2024
Classes commence: 12 February 2024
Last date to add/change modules: 16 February 2024
Deadline to cancel modules with full credit: 31 March 2024

Senior students, your academic year begins with guidance from your faculties – starting from 22 January 2024, leading to these crucial dates:

Registration: 29 January-12 February 2024
Classes commence: 12 February 2024
Last date to add/change modules: 16 February 2024
Last date to cancel modules with full credit: 31 March 2024

Postgraduate students, your journey towards enrolment and progression includes:

Registration for new research master’s and doctoral students takes place throughout the year.
For returning master’s and doctoral students:
First semester: 29 January-12 February 2024
Second semester: 8-19 July 2024

Resources at your fingertips

Navigate your registration journey smoothly with these resources:

Registration Guide: 8 steps to take: https://ufsweb.co/3sZOOet
Online Registration Guide – User Manual: https://ufsweb.co/489Qf8O
Registration Guide – First-Year Students: https://ufsweb.co/4aeLQDF
Registration Guide – Senior Students: https://ufsweb.co/46RMWSC
Registration Guide – Postgraduate Students: https://ufsweb.co/3TnjeSm
Registration Activity Guide – User Manual: https://ufsweb.co/47Tvv5O
Service Request Management – User Manual: https://ufsweb.co/3t5cIFp

How to seek assistance

Should you require guidance or have enquiries regarding the registration process, multiple avenues are at your disposal:

Institutional Contact Centre: Call +27 51 401 9111 or WhatsApp +27 87 240 6370

Email Support: Reach out to studentadmin@ufs.ac.za

Faculty support tailored for you

Each faculty offers specialised support designed to cater to your needs:

Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences: https://www.ufs.ac.za/econ
Faculty of Education: https://www.ufs.ac.za/edu
Faculty of Health Sciences: https://www.ufs.ac.za/health
Faculty of The Humanities: https://www.ufs.ac.za/humanities
Faculty of Law: https://www.ufs.ac.za/law
Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences: https://www.ufs.ac.za/natagri
Faculty of Theology and Religion: https://www.ufs.ac.za/theology

Prepare to embark on an incredible academic expedition at the University of the Free State! As part of the UFS family, immerse yourself in a diverse, vibrant, and enriching community. Welcome aboard and get ready to thrive!

News Archive

Expert in Africa Studies debunks African middle class myth

2016-05-10

From left: Prof Heidi Hudson, Director of the Centre for Africa Studies (CAS), Joe Besigye from the Institute of Reconciliation and Social Justice, and Prof Henning Melber, Extraordinary Professor at the CAS and guest lecturer for the day.
Photo: Valentino Ndaba

Until recently, think tanks from North America, the African Development Bank, United Nations Development Plan, and global economists have defined the African middle class based purely on monetary arithmetic. One of the claims made in the past is that anyone with a consumption power of $2 per day constitutes the middle class. Following this, if poverty is defined as monetary income below $1.5 a day, it means that it takes just half a dollar to reach the threshold considered as African middle class.

Prof Henning Melber highlighted the disparities in the notion of a growing African middle class in a guest lecture titled A critical anatomy of the African middle class(es), hosted by our Centre for Africa Studies (CAS) at the University of the Free State on 4 May 2016. He is an Extraordinary Professor at the Centre, as well as Senior Adviser and Director Emeritus of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation in Sweden.

Prof Melber argued that it is misleading to consider only income when identifying the middle class. In his opinion, such views were advanced by promoters of the global neo-liberal project. “My suspicion is that those who promote the middle class discourse in that way, based on such a low threshold, were desperate to look for the success story that testifies to Africa rising.”

Another pitfall of such a middle-class analysis is its ahistorical contextualisation. This economically-reduced notion of the class is a sheer distortion. Prof Melber advised analysts to take cognisance of factors, such as consumption patterns, lifestyle, and political affiliation, amongst others.

In his second lecture for the day, Prof Melber dealt withthe topic of: Namibia since independence: the limits to Liberation, painting the historical backdrop against which the country’s current government is consolidating its political hegemony. He highlighted examples of the limited transformation that has been achieved since Namibia’s independence in 1990.

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