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Breaking barriers: Honouring diversity in academic achievements at UFS

17 May 2024 | Story Edzani Nephalela | Photo Charl Devenish

During the Faculty of Education ceremony, Louzanne Coetzee, a blind UFS alumna and speaker, shared her remarkable journey. From her days as a high school learner to becoming a student, she highlighted her challenges and how she overcame them.

The April graduations at the University of the Free State (UFS) were a remarkable celebration of diversity and inclusivity, with 44 graduates with learning difficulties, visual, mobility, or hearing impairments honoured for their achievements.

Despite facing unique challenges throughout their academic journeys, these resilient students triumphed over adversity to earn their degrees, inspiring their peers and educators alike – all with the assistance of the Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support (CUADS) within the Division of Student Affairs.

Words of advice from the recent graduates

Nkosingiphile Nyanale, who is blind, recently graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree. He emphasised the importance of mutual understanding between students and educators as a way of helping students with disabilities to overcome the extra hurdles they face. “One of the most challenging parts of my journey was reaching a common understanding with some facilitators on how I could be reasonably accommodated in class,” Nyanale said. “Some lecturers would deny themselves the opportunity to understand the challenges of students with visual impairments and viewed my requests as a way of seeking an easy pass. So, peers and lecturers understanding various impairments helped shape my journey.

”Sthembiso Dlamini, a BSc Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics graduate who lives with dysgraphia, a condition that creates challenges related to handwriting, spelling, and organising thoughts on paper, said, “In my third year, I struggled to focus during high-stress exams. I willingly sacrificed much of my leisure time to tackle this obstacle head-on. I committed myself to honing my learning methods and enhancing my time-management abilities.”

Relebohile Moloi, a nursing graduate, thanked CUADS for its help, and said greater awareness of the centre and its services could help more students. “They should assess students regularly for impairments, because sometimes people don’t know they have an impairment. CUADS should visit each faculty to give information on who they are and what they offer.”

The speaker

Louzanne Coetzee, a blind UFS alumna, shared her story during the last graduation session of the season on 20 April. “After matriculating at the Pioneer School in Worcester [Western Cape], where it was a protected environment, I did not know what to expect from the UFS. However, the UFS gave me a conducive environment by allowing my guide dog, Isabel, into the residences. I was the first person to be allowed such.” [Listen to her full speech here.]

Inclusive environment

Martie Miranda, Deputy Director at CUADS, said she’s proud of the graduates, as they embody the UFS’s dedication to an inclusive environment that caters to all its students, in line with the university’s Vision 130, which aims to foster academic excellence in a diverse and equitable environment. “In celebrating our graduates, we honour not just their achievements but the enduring commitment of CUADS staff and the university to foster an inclusive environment where every student's journey is valued and supported."

News Archive

UFS receives R13,7 Million for Research into Prehistoric Organisms

2007-03-27

Some of the guests attending the launch of the research contract are: Dr Siyabulela Ntutela (Deputy Director: Biotechnology at the Department of Science and Technology), Dr Godfrey Netswera (Manager of Thuthuka and the Support Programme at the National Research Foundation (NRF)), Dr Esta van Heerden (Platform Manager and lecturer at the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology at the UFS), Mr Butana Mboniswa (Chief Executive Officer of BioPAD), and Mr Vuyisele Phehani (Portfolio Manager for BioPAD).
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

The University of the Free State (UFS) has been awarded a massive R13,7 million contract to conduct research into prehistoric micro-organisms which live under extreme conditions, for example in mineshafts.

This is one of the biggest research contracts awarded to the UFS in recent years.

The biotechnology research contract was awarded to the UFS by BioPAD, a South African biotechnology company that brokers partnerships between researchers, entrepreneurs, business, government and other stakeholders to promote innovation and create sustainable biotechnology businesses.

The project is endorsed by the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation (NRF), which contributes to the bursaries of the 17 postgraduate students on the programme.

The contract involves the establishment of a Platform for Metagenomics - a technique which allows researchers to extract the DNA from microbes in their natural environment and investigate it in a laboratory.

“Through this platform we will be able to understand deepmine microbial populations
and their potential application in the search for life in outer space. It is most likely
that, if life were to be found on other planets in our solar system, it would probably
resemble that which existed millions of years ago on earth. Apart from all this, these
organisms have unique properties one can exploit in biotechnological application for
South Africa and its community,” said Dr Esta van Heerden, platform manager and
lecturer at the UFS Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology.
She is assisted by her collegues, Prof. Derek Litthauer and Dr Lizelle Piater.

“The platform aims to tap into the unique genetic material in South African mines
which will lead to the discovery of new genes and their products. These new and unique products will find application in the medical field (anti-cancer, anti-bacterial en anti-viral cures), the industrial sector (nanotechnology, commercial washing agents and the food industry), environmental sector (pollution management, demolition of harmful metals and other toxic waste),” said Dr Van Heerden.

According to Dr Van Heerden, the Metagenomics Platforms stems from the Life in
Extreme Environments (LExEN) programme which was started in 1994 by Princeton
University in the United States of America (USA) in South African mines with grants
from among others the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and
the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the USA. Other international collaborators
on the project include Geosynec Consultants Inc. (USA), Oak Ridge National
Laboratory (USA), the University of Tennessee (USA) and in South Africa the
Universities of the Witwatersrand, North West and Limpopo and companies like BHP
Billiton, MINTEK and mining companies like Harmony, Gold Fields and AngloGold
Ashanti.

The research field laboratory of the Metagenomics Platform, which was situated in
Glen Harvey, was moved to the Main Campus of the UFS in Bloemfontein. “In this
way the university has become the central hub for all research programmes. We are
also the liaison between the LExEN programme and the various mining companies
involved,” said Dr Van Heerden. The new laboratory was introduced during the
launch of the research contract.

“Our decision to commit BioPAD to this project stems from the company’s commitment to advance human capacity development to strengthen South Africa’s research infrastructure. It is also part of our aim to create and protect intellectual property,” said Mr Butana Mboniswa, Chief Executive Officer of BioPAD.

Talking on behalf of the UFS senior management, Prof. Teuns Verschoor, Vice-Rector
of Academic Operations, said that the university shares the excitement to be part of
the exploration of unknown forms of life, the discovery of new genes and
their products and in applying newly gained knowledge to better understand our
universe.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl@ufs.ac.za
27 March 2007

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