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DHET international scholarship sessions spark interest at UFS

22 October 2024 | Story Precious Shamase and Bulelwa Moikwathai | Photo Supplied

DHET international scholarship sessions 2024 — Bulelwa Moikwaikwatlhai , Assistant Director: International Office and Dr Temwa Moyo, acting Director for International Scholarships at DHET.

The University of the Free State (UFS) Qwaqwa Campus recently hosted two information sessions on international scholarships, led by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). These sessions were initiated by the Office for international Affairs.

In his welcoming address during the first information session for campus heads of department, Campus Vice-Principal: Support Services, Teboho Manchu, expressed his enthusiasm for the event and its potential benefits for students and staff. He emphasised the importance of these sessions in fostering growth and development. “We are looking forward to these engagements and hope that they will benefit all of us. Please feel welcome. I would also like to thank the Office for International Affairs and all the colleagues who have been working with them to make this interaction possible.”

Dr Temwa Moyo, acting Director for International Scholarships at the DHET, gave a comprehensive presentation on Erasmus+ programmes, which provide universities with opportunities and funding to collaborate on curriculum development for new programmes, capacity building in higher education, and full scholarships for joint master’s degrees, to name a few.

“The UFS has a significant international footprint, including on the African continent. Our department’s role is to stimulate international collaboration among institutions and to strengthen national collaborations to share best practices and build networks and capacity. This is the idea of the Erasmus + programmes,” explained Dr Moyo.

The DHET representative emphasised the department’s commitment to fostering international collaboration among universities and institutions. He explained that the Erasmus+ programmes aim to empower institutions and capacitate them to engage globally.

In the second student-centred session, Prof Ralph Clark, Director of the Afromontane Research Unit, encouraged students to take advantage of these opportunities because they enhance one’s networks, perspectives, and knowledge, as well as provide a platform for students to participate in and contribute to conversations and activities aimed at addressing global challenges with societal impact. The event provided attendees with various international opportunities through the DHET to support their academic pursuits. Students and staff learned about the benefits of studying abroad, the requirements, and the application process. The DHET’s emphasis on institutional partnerships also highlights the possibility of enriching academic exchange and cultural experiences.

Overall, the DHET international scholarship sessions on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus were a resounding success, with both students and staff attending in numbers. These sessions inspired students and staff to explore the exciting possibilities of global engagements.

News Archive

Research project gives insight into the world of the deaf

2005-11-30

Mr Akach in conversation (using sign language) with his assistant Ms Emily Matabane. Photo: Lacea Loader

UFS research project gives insight into the world of the deaf

The Sign Language Division of the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Afro-Asiatic Studies and Language Practice and Sign Language has signed a bilateral research project with the universities of Ghent and Brussels to write a book on sign language.

“We want to compare the Belgium and South African sign languages with each other. The book will be about the deaf telling us about themselves and how they live. It will also focus on the use of story telling techniques and the grammar used by deaf people. We want to see if the hand forms and the grammatical markers and other linguistic features that deaf people from these two countries use are the same or not,” said Mr Philemon Akach, lecturer at the UFS Sign Language Division and coordinator of the research.

According to Mr Akach, the sign language community in South Africa, with about 600 000 deaf people who use South African Sign Language (SASL) as first language, is quite big. “Over and above the deaf people in South Africa, there are also the non-deaf who use SASL, like the children of deaf parents etc. This book can therefore be used to teach people about the deaf culture,” he added.

Another of Mr Akach’s achievements is his election as Vice-President of the newly established World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI). The association was established earlier this month during a conference in Worcester.

Mr Akach has been actively involved with sign language interpretation since 1986 and has been interpreting at the World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) since 1987. “My appointment as Vice-President of the WASLI is an emotional one. I have been involved with deaf people for so long and have been trying to create awareness and obtain recognition for sign language, especially in Africa,” said Mr Akach. WASLI is affiliated to the WFD.

According to Mr Akach there was no formal structure in the world to support sign language and sign language interpreters. “Now we have the backup of WASLI and we can convince governments in other African countries and across the world to support deaf people by supporting WASLI and therefore narrow the communication gap between the deaf and the hearing. My main aim as Vice-President is to endeavour for the recognition of sign language and spoken language interpreters as a profession by governments,” he said.

According to Mr Akach the formal training of interpreters is of vital importance. “Anybody who has a deaf person in his/her family and can communicate in sign language can claim that they are an interpreter. This is not true. It is tantamount to think that all mother tongue or first language speakers are interpreters. Likewise students who learn sign language up to whatever level and are fluent in signing, should still join an interpreter’s programme,” he said.

“Sign language interpreting is a profession and should be presented as an academic course alongside other spoken languages. The UFS has been taking the lead with sign language and spoken language interpretation and was the first university on the African continent to introduce sign language as an academic course,” he said.

“Although sign language has always been an unknown language to young people it has become quite popular in recent years. This year we had a total of 160 students at the Sign Language Section of the UFS and the numbers seem to increase steadily every year,” he said.

Mr Akach’s assistant, Ms Emily Matabane, is deaf and they communicate in sign language. Ms Matabane also handles the tutorials with students to give them hands-on experience on how to use sign language.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
30 November 2005

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