Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

UFS Language Policy is now available in four languages

13 June 2024 | Story Edzani Nephalela | Photo Supplied

Dr Nomalungelo Ngubane, the Director of the Academy for Multilingualism, is at the forefront of this initiative, championing diversity and inclusiveness for all stakeholders at the University of the Free State.

Diversity in higher education institutions enriches the learning environment, fostering a culture of inclusion and mutual respect. It broadens perspectives, encourages critical thinking, and prepares students for a global workforce by supporting equitable access to opportunities and enhancing all students' personal growth and academic excellence.

The University of the Free State (UFS) has marked a significant milestone in its commitment to linguistic diversity with the official translation of its Language Policy into three additional languages: Sesotho, Afrikaans, and isiZulu. Previously only available in English, the translation of the policy – approved by the University Council in November 2023 – into these languages reflects the university's dedication to inclusivity and recognition of its diverse community.

The collaboration between the Academy for Multilingualism and the Institutional Regulatory Code was instrumental in a groundbreaking initiative: making the Language Policy accessible to speakers of African languages. Spearheaded by the Academy for Multilingualism, this endeavour involved a thorough translation, formatting, and proofreading process.

Dr Nomalungelo Ngubane, Director of the Academy for Multilingualism, emphasised that the availability of the Language Policy in multiple languages is not merely symbolic, but underscores the UFS' values of respect, human dignity, and social justice, as outlined in its Vision130. “This initiative aligns with the university's overarching goal of fostering an environment where all languages are valued and respected. We also hope that the Language Policy will not just be written in different languages but will strengthen the implementation of the policy in various domains of the university to achieve its objectives.

She further explains that the translation project is expected to have far-reaching impacts on how policies are communicated and understood within the university, because it enhances the ability of students, staff, and stakeholders to participate more fully in university life, contributing to a more cohesive and integrated community.

This initiative is a testament to the UFS' commitment to embracing and celebrating linguistic diversity as a fundamental aspect of its identity and operations.

News Archive

UFS and BMF present a crash course on Financial Literacy for Young Entrepreneurs

2017-08-23

Starting a business, big or small, can be a really difficult task – especially if you are not equipped with the basic business knowledge to help you kick-start this project.

For this reason, the University of the Free State (UFS), in collaboration with the Black Management Forum (BMF), held a Financial Literacy Workshop for Young Entrepreneurs on the Bloemfontein Campus early last week to assist in this regard.

Young entrepreneurs equipped with business knowledge for start-ups
The purpose of the workshop, which was presented by Francois Marais and Eduard Loots from Riskflow, was to equip young entrepreneurs with knowledge and skills to assist them in the business world. The main focus was on training start-up businesses to prepare business plans, and training was given to researchers, developers, and innovators on how to commercialise their inventions.

Ansie Barnard, Senior Officer in the UFS Business School, says since the involvement of the school in entrepreneurship development over the past few years, they came to the realisation that many of these new businesses tend to fail within a year because they do not have a suitable financial model.

“This is the reason why we utilised Riskflow Financial Modelling Software, since it does all the accounting calculations on their behalf,” says Barnard.

Introduction to basic business banking
In addition to this, the participants were introduced to the basics of business banking, with Standard Bank and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) as the guest presenters providing them with this information.

BMF’s Rozanne Brown says that many of these young entrepreneurs have the desire to succeed in business; therefore there is a need for this type of workshop.

BMF and the UFS Business School will look into hosting more entrepreneurial workshops in the future,” says Brown. All attendees of the workshop will receive certificates for their participation.

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept