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UFS to host inaugural ‘Sanlam and Santam Economist of the Year’ gala event

16 October 2024 | Story Anthony Mthembu | Photo Supplied

The Department of Economics and Finance, within the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) at the University of the Free State (UFS), in collaboration with Sanlam and Santam, will host the inaugural ‘Sanlam & Santam Economist of the Year’ competition gala event on 18 October 2024. The event, to be held on the UFS Bloemfontein campus, marks the exciting conclusion of this prestigious competition.

About the competition

Prof Johan Coetzee, Chairperson of the Department of Economics and Finance at UFS, explained that the competition, launched in July 2024, is an initiative of the department, sponsored by Sanlam and Santam. ‘’The competition aims to equip our graduates with the essential skills required for the modern workplace, including presentation, communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills,” said Prof Coetzee. He also highlighted plans to extend the competition to schools, saying, “We are looking forward to broadening the platform to include school-level participants.”

In addition, Prof Coetzee noted that the competition is designed to train students to become highly skilled economists capable of navigating the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

The competition sees students - ranging from first-year undergraduates to those pursuing master's qualifications within the department - competing against each other by making predictions on key macroeconomic indicators. A schedule of these indicators is provided, and students must predict their values on an online platform before the official release of each indicator. Points are awarded based on the accuracy of their predictions, with the top 10 competitors progressing to the final stage.

Gala event highlights

Representatives from Sanlam and Santam, the Department of Economics and Finance, the top 10 finalists, and the department’s top academic performers from each year group will attend the gala event. “Besides recognising the competition winners, we will also honour our top academic achievers. As a department, we acknowledge the importance of recognition, and we are proud to be the academic home of these outstanding students,” Prof Coetzee added.

The top 10 finalists will each deliver a six-minute presentation to a panel of four economists from the department, after which the top three finalists will be announced. These finalists will then answer an additional question, and the final judging will determine the winner of the ‘Sanlam and Santam Economist of the Year’ title. The winner will also receive the largest cash prize.

In addition to the awards, Sivuyile Nzimeni, a data analyst within the EMS faculty and the developer of the competition platform, will address the audience. Nzimene will discuss the development of the platform and plans for its expansion.

News Archive

Valuable opportunity for future educators

2012-02-13

The UFS will award bursaries to about 670 students this year. These bursaries, to the value of over R42 million rand, will give these students the opportunity to follow their dream of becoming educators in South Africa. At the selection process were, from the left: Prof. Gawie du Toit, Programme Director: Initial Teacher Education at the UFS, Dr. Rantsie Kgothule, Teaching Practice Coordinator at the UFS Qwaqwa Campus; Ms Fiona Padayachee, Deputy Director: Recruitment and Selection in the Free State Department of Education; and Mr Kennedy Vilankulu, Information Manager at the Fundza Lushaka bursary scheme.

This year, 675 students from the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Faculty of Education will be awarded bursaries worth more than R42 million from the Fundza Lushaka bursary scheme.

The selection process for the recipients is already underway. Although each student’s academic performance plays a vital role in the selection process, beneficiaries are also selected based on performance in scarce subjects like mathematics, science and African languages.

“We are trying to attract and train as many teachers as possible. Hoping they will honour their contract and teach in South Africa” said Mr Kennedy Vilankulu, Information Manager at the Fundza Lushaka Bursary Scheme.

Mr Vilankulu commended the faculty on its management of the bursary scheme. This is evident in the close liaison between the faculty, on both the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa campuses, and the Free State Department of Education. Just over 90% of the beneficiaries of the bursary scheme study at the UFS.

Prof. Gawie du Toit, Programme Director: Initial Teacher Education (ITE) says the quality of a school can never exceed the quality of its teachers. It is the faculty’s aim to educate caring, accountable and critically reflective education practitioners. These teachers must be able to act as agents of change in diverse educational contexts. Prof. Du Toit said it was a privilege to collaborate with both national and provincial Departments of Education in this venture.

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