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#YouthMonth: UFS makes strides in youth career development

30 June 2023 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Supplied

CareerHub: connecting UFS students to dream jobs

In response to the alarming rate of unemployment facing South Africa's young population, the government has launched various youth development and empowerment projects as part of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention, aiming to encourage greater youth participation in the economy.

To combat the high rate of graduate unemployment, the University of the Free State (UFS) Career Services in the Division of Student Affairs plans to launch the CareerHub on 3 July 2023. CareerHub is an innovative job portal aimed at revolutionising the job search process and connecting employers with highly qualified UFS candidates. The platform boasts a wide range of opportunities, collaborates with reputable companies, offers advanced search filters, and enables employers to create detailed company profiles to attract top talent. Job seekers can personalise their search criteria and set preferences to streamline their job search.

UFS Youth Month campaign

Highlighting the positive impact of the UFS in youth career development, the institution's Department of Communication and Marketing launched a campaign in June 2023 aimed at showcasing the success stories of alumni who have studied at the university and are now employed by the institution.

One such success story is Katleho Lechoo, who joined the UFS as an undergraduate student and is now a football administrator in KovsieSport. Lechoo's journey exemplifies his commitment to excellence, having served as the President of the Institutional Student Representative Council during his time as a student. Reflecting on his experiences, Lechoo expressed gratitude for the opportunities to contribute positively and to make a difference in the UFS community.

“I was recently elected as the youngest Institutional Forum member at the University of the Free State. A position I look at and remind myself that – apart from my ordinary position at the university – I also have an opportunity to contribute and influence the space positively and otherwise for its benefit. I wake up knowing that I have yet another day to do good unto others as I would expect from them. And to sum up my experience thus far? As Roy T Bennett simply puts it: ‘Be thankful for everything that happens in your life; it’s all an experience’,” said Lechoo.

Annelize Kruger shared Lechoo’s sentiments. Kruger graduated in 2020 with a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy and now serves as a lecturer in the Department of Occupational Therapy. She credits the UFS for providing her with a solid foundation to excel in her profession and to contribute to the training of future occupational therapists.

Maximising impact through the SDG lens

The introduction of CareerHub aligns with the UFS' Vision 130 strategy, which aims to maximise societal impact and contribute to the development of the Free State and South Africa. The platform addresses a pressing local issue – youth unemployment – by leveraging the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework for assessing societal impact.

SDG Goal eight, focusing on Decent Work and Economic Growth, highlights the importance of providing young people with opportunities for decent jobs. This involves investing in quality education and training, matching skills with market demands, ensuring social protection and basic services, and promoting equal opportunities for productive employment, irrespective of gender, income level, or socio-economic background.

WATCH: UFS ends Youth Month on a high note with a performance from the 1992 film Sarafina!

News Archive

UFS hosts colloquium on technological higher education

2016-10-27

Description: Technology colloquium Tags: Technology colloquium

Prof Lew Zipin, Prof Sechaba Mahlomaholo,
Prof Marie Brennan and Dr Milton Nkoane,
attended the Faculty of Education’s colloquium
on the field of technological higher education
and its contribution to the knowledge society,
at the UFS Bloemfontein Campus.

The University of the Free State’s (UFS) Faculty of Education, in collaboration with the Research and Development Unit from the Central University of Technology (CUT), hosted a colloquium on the field of technological higher education and its contribution to the knowledge society. Prof Marie Brennan and Prof Lew Zipin, both from Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia, presented the keynote addresses of the colloquium.

The past, present and future
The current fees protests in South Africa have caused universities to rethink and strategise new ways of delivering knowledge. Prof Brennan cautioned that when moving towards technological solutions for teaching, a crucial balance between past knowledge and practices and present and future knowledge and practices needed to be maintained.
“Knowledge is always dynamic, always generated from live problems, and therefore always relies on social interactions. Face-to-face interaction is removed by intense interaction with technology. If knowledge is presently linked to technology, we as academics must be able to move it. However, we should not neglect the indigenous knowledge that was generated through face-to-face interaction,” said Prof Brennan.
She purported that a reconnection between social relations and technology was important but to achieve this, a clearer pedagogical understanding of knowledge production was needed.

Never simplify complex problems
Prof Zipin said academics were constantly seeking complex problems and therefore could not reduce the complexity of a problem to simplify it for students entering the higher education space.
“We need to become a knowledge society. Ideologies often sway us not to look at the complexities of knowledge otherwise these ideologies would not be persuasive,” said Prof Zipin.

Is the technological move counterproductive?
Prof Zipin also cautioned that the move towards technological means for transferring knowledge had its own drawbacks. Institutions are a knowledge economy and its product is human capital. However, producing graduates who catered only to a technological society created downward mobility.
“People’s jobs are replaced by technology. This causes wages to decrease significantly because of structural inequalities, the move towards tech-based schooling should be done cautiously,” said Prof Zipin.

Simplicity not the ultimate sophistication
Prof Zipin concluded by stating that higher education had a responsibility to give its students the best possible future, this could be done by creating hegemonic relationships between institutions of higher learning, government and the private sector. Academics needed to fill the gap and apply their knowledge by applying complexity to social issues and allowing the complexity of these issues to flourish, the professor said.

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