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Advancing innovative, effective mathematics and science teaching across South Africa

01 October 2024 | Story Anthony Mthembu | Photo Kaleidoscope

S4F2024 — The Science-for-the-Future (S4F) unit in the Faculty of Education hosted a summit on 13 September 2024. The event, which was held on the University of the Free State Bloemfontein Campus, was well attended by nearly 300 guests from across the country.

Teachers from across the country and representatives of nine other universities recently gathered at the University of the Free State (UFS) to celebrate the achievements of the S4F Teacher Professional Development programmes as well as the successful collaboration between the UFS and other universities in this regard.

The Science-for-the-Future (S4F) unit in the Faculty of Education hosted a summit in the Centenary Complex on the Bloemfontein Campus on 13 September 2024. The acting Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the UFS, Prof Anthea Rhoda, delivered the keynote address at the summit. Representatives from the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) – the official funder of the Science for the Future initiative – were also present, along with about 300 attendees, representing teachers, participating universities, representatives from the Department of Basic Education, and other stakeholders.

In her welcoming address, Prof Matseliso Mokhele Makgalwa, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Education, said the event focuses, among others, on fostering collaboration and innovation across academic and professional communities. She later highlighted the fact that the project implementation period of three years makes provision for continued visits to the participating schools to sustain the continuity over time.

Dr Cobus van Breda, Programme Director of S4F and Project Manager of the Universities Collaboration initiative, elaborated on the rationale of the project as well as the collaboration with nine other universities. He stated, “We know from research that there are many factors that prevent learners, especially in rural areas in South Africa, from excelling in Mathematics and Science. These include subject content knowledge, lack of teaching resources at school and at home, language of learning and teaching that differs from home language, along with a lack of parental involvement, among others.” He said the project aims to address these rampant challenges by not only empowering teachers with the necessary teaching skills and content knowledge, but also providing classroom resources to benefit learners and adding a parental involvement component to the project.

To scale the project benefits for the rest of the country, the UFS has partnered with nine other universities; collectively, more than one hundred thousand project participants (teachers, learners, and parents) could be impacted during 2024. The collaborating universities are Nelson Mandela University, the Walter Sisulu University, the University of Limpopo, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the University of Mpumalanga, Sol Plaatje University, the University of Venda, Stellenbosch University, and Nort-West University.

Representatives from the Department of Basic Education and other institutions were also given the opportunity to highlight the impact of the initiative in their respective institutions. Maki Molale, Senior Education Specialist from the Free State Department of Basic Education, reflected on the contribution of the project and said, “In the Department of Education we report on these key areas: teacher development, direct learner support, parental involvement, the utilisation of resources and partnerships … they are all addressed in this project.” She thanked the University of the Free State and the funder, SANRAL. Dr Glynnis Daries from Sol Plaatje University spoke on behalf of the collaborating universities and explained from an academic perspective to attendees how the project implementation strategy of S4F relates to Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory of human development and how the respective project components showcase the five levels of this theory.

During the keynote address, Prof Rhoda emphasised the importance of Mathematics skills, teaching children the capacity to solve problems and how it is extremely important to be analytical in one’s approach to resolving complexities and to work through problems in a methodical and logical manner. In the end, if one does this, no challenge is insurmountable. She commended the teachers present for fulfilling a vital task and pointed out the heavy responsibility on their shoulders. In this regard, she said, “As the UFS, and through the Science for the Future project, we are proud to support you in your work. The project is a vehicle through which we fulfil the central goals of the UFS, which are to impact the community in a positive way, and to instil a culture of excellence in a caring environment. We will continue to support you in your work and do all that we can to make your work more fulfilling and impactful – this is the promise of the UFS to our partners through this project.”

In acknowledging the contribution of the respective collaborating universities, Prof Rhoda emphasised that partnerships and collaborations are not easy to build, and most importantly, to maintain … “but what I’m hearing through these engagements today is that these partnerships are not just being maintained, they are expanded … the collaboration impacted the different institutions as well as, most importantly, the communities, close to and around them”. She alluded to the fact that universities’ roles are not just to retain and accept students, but universities have an important role in being the anchor within the society and communities in which they find themselves. According to her, the contribution of SANRAL and other project funders thus extends far beyond teachers’ professional development and community empowerment, it contributes towards assisting universities in engaged scholarship activities.

In reflecting on the parental involvement component of the programme, Themba Mhambi – Chairperson of the SANRAL Board – said that apart from being a maths and science project, and a project that is developmental, that is nation building, “… it becomes a kind of template for perhaps how our education system needs to be re-constructed … reclaiming the old times when parents and teachers worked together with the child in the centre”.

News Archive

UFS awards honorary doctorates during its centenary week

2004-10-07

The University of the Free State (UFS) will award 12 honorary doctorates on Thursday 14 October 2004 to a diverse group of outstanding South Africans and international experts.

This will be the last in a group of 18 honorary doctorates that the UFS will be awarding in its centenary year.

The awards comprise of a number of well-known language experts and writers, experts in higher education, first-time awards in community service and development studies, as well as music.

“This reflects quality and also diversity, a spectrum of convictions as well as the recognition of persons who played a major role in changing society in the last couple of decades, “ says Prof Frederick Fourie, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.

The awards can be grouped in the following categories:

Language and literature:

Mr Karel Schoeman (D Litt (hc)) – well-known Afrikaans author and former student of the UFS. Some of the awards he has received include the Hertzog prize for prose (1970, 1986 and 1995), the CNA prize (1972 and 1994), the Old Mutual prize (1985 and 1991), the SABC prize for best television drama in 1990, the M Net book prize in 1997 and the State President award (former President Nelson Mandela: Order for Excellent Service – silver) in 1999. It is an honor for the UFS to have this gifted and creative person among its former students. This conferment is a fitting recognition of his status as leading South African writer.

Ms Antjie Krog (D Litt (hc)) – well-known South African poet and former student of the UFS. Her popularity as poet is evident in her piercing honesty and unequalled power of expression. Some of the awards she has received include the Eugéne Marais prize in 1973, the Rapport prize in 1987, the Hertzog prize in 1990 and the RAU prize in 2000. Her writing has been translated into seven languages. She has also received numerous honors for her involvement in and journalistic documentation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) proceedings. It is therefore an exceptional privilege for her alma mater to honor her with an honorary doctorate.

Prof Jaap Steyn (D Litt (et phil) (hc)) – recently, Prof Steyn again distinguished himself as biographer whose thorough research is apparent in the published biographies of illustrious writers such as NP van Wyk Louw and MER. The numerous awards, among which the Stals prize from the South African Academy of Science and Art for the Van Wyk publication, are a matter of record. He conducted the research for this great prize-winning work as honorary professor at the UFS.

Prof Jakes Gerwel (D Phil (hc)) – Chancellor of the University of Rhodes and Director of Naspers, Old Mutual, Gold Fields and Brimstone. His doctoral thesis was published in The Netherlands under the title Literatuur en apartheid. Konsepsies van “gekleurdes” in die Afrikaanse roman tot 1948 (1983). He received an honorary doctorate from Clark College ( Atlanta), the City University of New York and Missouri in the USA, the University of the Western Cape, the University of Cape Town, the University of Natal, Rhodes University, the University of Stellenbosch and the University of the Witwatersrand. He is also outstanding professor in the Humanities at the University of the Western Cape, honorary professor in the Humanities at the University of Pretoria, and was the chairman of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).

Development Studies:

Dr Frederick van Zyl Slabbert (D Phil (hc)) – for his academic achievements, his endeavors for bringing about a peaceful transition in South Africa and his demonstration of the social investment role of the corporate sector. Dr Van Zyl Slabbert has received honorary degrees from the University of Natal and the Simon Fraser University in Canada. He has published seven books and various academic articles.

Community Service:

Prof Robert G Bringle (D Phil (hc)) – from the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) in the USA. He is currently Chancellor’s Professor of Psychology and Philanthropic Studies at the IUPUI and also Director of the IUPUI’s Centre for Service Learning. He is honored for his exceptional contribution to several of the UFS’s community service projects as well as his role in the advancement of a multi- and inter-disciplinary approach to academic development and the integration of service learning within the faculties of the UFS. He has also made a valuable contribution to the conceptual framework of the UFS’s unique community service policy and more recently to the advancement of a research culture regarding community service.

Higher education:

Dr Khotso Mokhele (D Phil (hc)), President of the National Research Foundation (NRF) is honored for his contribution to the South African higher education sector. He has also made a substantial contribution to the development of the research capacity of universities and technikons in South Africa. Dr Mokhele was born in Bloemfontein and matriculated at the Moroka High School in Thaba Nchu.

Prof Saleem Badat (D Phil (hc)), the Chief Executive Officer of the Council on Higher Education (CHE). Prof Badat has devoted himself to transforming and building South African higher education, and has constantly challenged the higher education sector to retain the moral basis of higher education and tackle its challenges with intellectual honesty, ingenuity, creativity and courage. He is honored for his intellectual leadership in the development of a equitable, just and quality higher education system in South Africa.

Law:

Prof HA (Boelie) Wessels (D Legum (hc)) – for his contribution to the fields of Roman Law, Legal History at the UFS. He is currently a part-time lecturer at the UFS’s Faculty of Law.

Medicine:

Prof CJC Nel (D Phil (hc) Posthumous) – for the way in which he strived for the advancement of excellent medical education in the country. Prof Nel also did pioneering work in the field of transformation in higher education. Under his guidance the School of Medicine at the UFS became one of the first medical schools to adopt a parallel-medium system of instruction.

Music:

Prof Leo Quayle (D Mus (hc)) – for the significant contributions he has made to the development of music – not only in Bloemfontein, but also on national level and abroad. His initiative, enthusiasm and dedication contributed to the eventual founding of the Free State Musicon, as well as the first symphony orchestra and the first string quartet in Bloemfontein. Prof Quayle is a former head of the Department of Music at the UFS.

Prof Jack de Wet (D Mus (hc)) – well-known for his exceptional contribution to violin tuition in South Africa. As pedagogue of international stature, he still moulds violinists who compete at national and international level. At an advanced stage of his career, he still actively conveys his knowledge, experience and distinctive insight in his field of speciality to yet another new generation of young violin teachers. Today the symphony orchestras in Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth also stand on the foundations laid by him.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
7 October 2004

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