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07 July 2023 | Story Kekeletso Takang
UFS Industry VisitsUFS Industry Visits - promoting student development
Students from the University of the Free State (UFS) recently had the opportunity to visit four Bloemfontein companies as part of their learning experience in the School of Accountancy.

The University of the Free State (UFS) is committed to producing employable graduates. Being student-centred, the UFS is continuously seeking opportunities to promote the learning experience by taking a holistic approach where teaching and learning extend beyond the four walls of a lecture hall. It is to this end that the UFS School of Accountancy recently took hands with local businesses to expose students to the real world of work through industry visits.

Aimed at providing students with insights into the real world, the industry visits are the initial point of contact between students and the working industry. The approximately 280 students in the Bachelor of Accounting (final-years), Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Accounting, and Postgraduate Diploma in General Accountancy were exposed to the real world so they could see first-hand what professional accountants do, how the business world works, and how their different modules integrate.

Four of Bloemfontein’s largest companies agreed to host a group of 70 students each. Students were given the opportunity to sign up for the company they found most interesting. The companies – Raubex Infra, SA Truck Bodies, Interstate Bus Lines, which sponsored transport to and from all the companies, and Sun Windmill Casino – function in the construction, manufacturing, transportation, and entertainment sectors, respectively. Students were not only treated to talks by the directors and senior staff of all the companies who took time to address them and share insightful information about their operations, but also to tours and treats.

“The updated SAICA competency framework, which guides most of our teaching at the School of Accountancy, requires us to enhance our focus on professional values, attitudes, and acumens (PVAAs). The industrial visits specifically address business acumen, but the added benefit is that it inspires and excites students, as it exposes them to where they may be in future," says Ané Church, Lecturer in the School of Accountancy.

The industry visits were not only fun and tours, but students were also tasked with writing a reflective essay after the visit, setting out what they learnt, found interesting, and would recommend to the respective companies. This, in turn, addressed students’ writing skills and uses reflection as a means of learning.

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Health Sciences expand their training platform to Trompsburg
2014-04-03

We will soon be able to accommodate more students who wish to obtain a qualification in the medical profession, after an agreement was reached between the UFS’s Faculty of Health Sciences, the Department of Higher Education and Training and the Free State Department of Health.

Some R28 million were allocated to the UFS for setting up two new Health Sciences facilities.

It is through this agreement that the Faculty of Health Sciences recently bought the Midway Hotel in Trompsburg, in order to expand their training opportunities platform for students in the faculty. Two other facilities are currently being negotiated for Kimberley and the Eastern Free State.

Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean of the faculty, says their training platform at the Universitas Academic Hospital (including Universitas Hospital, the National District Hospital, Pelonomi Hospital, the Free State Psychiatric and 3 Military Hospital) is saturated.

“We couldn’t accommodate additional students without compromising the quality of practical training. We are forced to expand the training platform to other good primary health facilities which will be accredited by that the Health Professions Council – in this case the new Trompsburg.”

Prof Van Zyl says the necessary infrastructure must be put in place before student numbers can be increased. Some of the plans include:

  • Furnished accommodation in Trompsburg for about 50 students from the School of Medicine, School of Allied Health Professions and the School of Nursing.
  • Administrative and academic support points, including office space for administrative and other essential learning areas.
  • Equipment and facilities for e-learning.

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