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Volunteer students participating in a two-day training by KovsieACT to learn fundamental principles of gardening, including soil preparation, planting, watering, fertilising, and pest management.

To ensure food security for students, KovsieACT – in collaboration with the Department of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems – held training sessions for approximately 150 student volunteers at the University of the Free State (UFS) community gardens on the Bloemfontein Campus. 

The UFS project consists of two large food tunnels, which provide an educational intervention that addresses food insecurity on campus, and by extension, food insecurity challenges students experience in their hometowns, at home, and in their villages.

Karen Scheepers, Assistant Director: Student Life, said: “The purpose of this training is to equip students with the necessary skills to identify or recognise the need for and importance of planting and taking care of vegetables. Participating students also learned the fundamental principles of gardening, including soil preparation, planting, watering, fertilising, and pest management.”

During the training held on 8 and 9 March 2023, students were also trained to choose the right seeds and to start their own seed germination project. “The aim is to provide students with the knowledge and skills they need to grow and maintain a thriving vegetable garden,” added Scheepers.

The training was conducted by experienced professionals from the department, with students also getting an opportunity to ask questions and interact with fellow students who share their passion for gardening.

Scheepers said: “This training is a great opportunity for students to learn new skills, make new friends, and connect with the community. It will also help them to lead a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle.

The training is an extension of the institution’s No Student Hungry Programme (NSH), which continues to ensure that hundreds of students are supported with food parcels, including vegetables and non-perishable items. The NSH programme provides food to insecure students through modest food allowances and daily access to one balanced meal.

News Archive

UFS receives an award from the World Universities Forum
2011-01-11

The University of the Free State (UFS) has received the World Universities Forum (WUF) Award for Best Practice in Higher Education during 2010.

The Best Practice Award recognises the most significant practices of the year around the world. The UFS’s implementation of a number of interlocking innovations to transform the institution is recognised with the award.
 
These innovations include:
  • campus-wide racial integration among students;
  • the reinvigoration of the academic culture;
  • the nurturing of the most promising young scholars by means of the Vice-Chancellor's Prestige Young Scholars Programme;
  • sending 71 first-year students to top American universities to assist with their development into non-racial campus leaders;
  • the revision of the undergraduate curriculum to promote a cross-disciplinary approach to key societal problems;
  • raising the entry requirements;
  • the facilitation of open access to campus leadership through sessions with the Vice-Chancellor and Rector, Prof. Jonathan  Jansen – providing opportunities for public discussion between senior leadership, staff and students;
  • the UFS also extended this spirit of dialogue internationally through the inauguration of its International Advisory Council consisting of key thinkers and practitioners;
  • the identification of 20 of the most dysfunctional high schools in the Free State Province and the building of relationships with those schools. This university-school partnership is based on a strict contract of reciprocal commitments to increase the chances of black children attending university. The WUF applauded this as the most innovative step.
 
“We at the UFS are humbled, but encouraged by the recognition of academic excellence and institutional transformation that comes with this prestigious international award,” said Prof. Jansen.
 
The WUF said in a statement that these innovations demonstrate the profound impact higher education practices can have when they are well conceived and implemented.  “We applaud these innovations and the ways in which they promote racial harmony, student success and overall academic vitality,” the statement reads.
 
The Best Practice Award will be announced formally at this year’s World Universities Forum, which will be held at the Hong Kong Institute of Education from 14-16 January 2011. 
 
 A message of appreciation from Prof. Jansen will be read by Prof. Fazal Rizvi, Programme Convenor of the WUF 2011 during the award ceremony.


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

 

 

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