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UFS South Campus: Leading in Childhood Education

16 February 2023 | Story Kekeletso Takang | Photo Kekeletso Takang

Leading Education — Leading in Open Distance and E-Learning is Dr Bawinile Mthanti (left), and Programme Director for Childhood Education; Dr Zukiswa Nhase (right).

If you want to make a change, be you. These are the words of Dr Zukiswa Nhase, Programme Director for the Department of Childhood Education and Lecturer in the Faculty of Education. She believes that to make an impact, a leader needs to demonstrate care.

As of 2023, the Department of Childhood Education (DCE) – Foundation Phase – relocated to the South Campus, widening the offering of the campus. The Grade R Diploma in Teaching and the Advanced Certificate in Teaching are flagship undergraduate programmes offered by the Faculty of Education.

Grade R Diploma bridging the gap

The Grade R Diploma in Teaching, an initiative of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), is geared towards equipping and supporting childhood development teachers.

Catering for the Free State context, the qualification accommodates English, Afrikaans, Sesotho, and isiZulu speakers. Teachers are taught by experienced specialists in the field who understand their daily challenges. This is according to Dr Nhase. The DCE has much to offer, being a leader in the country in offering the Grade R diploma, with universities across South Africa benchmarking from the UFS.

The primary purpose of this qualification is to empower teachers with the appropriate skills and knowledge to optimise any teaching-learning situation. Informed by research, the Grade R Diploma in Teaching has been developed to meet specific national skills needs that exist in South Africa’s education system, with specific reference to the Grade R distance education model which provides a customised and practical opportunity for existing teachers to upgrade their knowledge and level of professionalism without having to attend full-time contact classes.

Early Childhood Development (ECD) in South Africa refers to an all-inclusive approach to programmes and policies for children from birth to seven years of age. Formerly with the Department of Social Development, ECD now reports to the Department of Basic Education. This move was to bridge the gap that existed and to unify the teaching professions.

Advanced Certificate in Teaching

Another offering on the South Campus under the stewardship of Dr Bawinile Mthanti, Head of Open Distance and E-Learning (ODEL) in the Faculty of Education, is the Advanced Certificate in Teaching. Previously managed by the UFS and HEPSA, ACT is now solely managed by the UFS. Delivered in two modes, it is aimed at upgrading the qualifications of teachers who are currently employed without adequate training. This programme is an excellent opportunity to provide specialist education to teachers who need to strengthen their subject-specialisation knowledge base.

The Advanced Certificate in Teaching is delivered in the online mode (100% online with no face-to-face contact with the lecturer) and the blended distance-learning mode (some online activity and face-to-face contact with the lecturer). Through this programme, students advance closer to a Bachelor of Education.

With Gauteng province leading the way with the number of registered students, the ACT has had great successes and will only advance when it is offered solely in online mode from 2024. “We are currently in the process of acquiring approval in the UFS structures to offer ACT solely online from 2024,” says Dr Mthanti.

For more information on the programmes and other Faculty of Education offerings, visit our website.

News Archive

Professor’s research part of major global programme

2011-04-04

Prof. Zakkie Pretorius, professor in Plant Pathology in the Department of Plant Sciences at our university

Research by Zakkie Pretorius, professor in Plant Pathology in the Department of Plant Sciences at our university, has become part of Phase II of a mayor global project to combat deadly strains of a wheat pathogen that poses a threat to global food security.

Prof. Pretorius focuses on the identification of resistance in wheat to the stem rust disease and will assist breeders and geneticists in the accurate phenotyping of international breeding lines and mapping populations. In addition, Prof. Pretorius will support scientists from Africa with critical skills development through training programmes. During Phase I, which ends in 2011, he was involved in pathogen surveillance in Southern Africa and South Asia.

The Department of International Development (DFID) in the United Kingdom and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will invest $40 million over the next five years in the global project led by the Cornell University. The project is aimed at combating deadly strains of Ug99, an evolving wheat pathogen that is a dangerous threat to global food security, especially in the poorest nations.

The Cornell University said in a statement, the grant made to the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat (DRRW) project at Cornell will support efforts to identify new stem-rust resistant genes in wheat, improve surveillance, and multiply and distribute rust-resistant wheat seed to farmers and their families.

Researchers worldwide will be able to play an increasingly vital role in protecting wheat fields from dangerous new forms of stem rust, particularly in countries whose people can ill afford the economic impact of damage to this vital crop.

The Ug99 strain was discovered in Kenya in 1998, but are now also threatening major wheat-growing areas of Southern and Eastern Africa, the Central Asian Republics, the Caucasus, the Indian subcontinent, South America, Australia and North America.

Prof. Pretorius was responsible for the first description of this strain in 1999.

Among Cornell’s partners are national research centres in Kenya and Ethiopia, and scientists at two international agricultural research centres that focus on wheat, the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (known by its Spanish acronym as CIMMYT), and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), in Syria. Advanced research laboratories in the United States, Canada, China, Australia, Denmark and South Africa also collaborate on the project. The DRRW project now involves more than 20 leading universities and research institutes throughout the world, and scientists and farmers from more than 40 countries.

Media Release
28 March 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

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