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06 August 2025 | Story Lilitha Dingwayo | Photo Supplied
Mobi Readathon
Attending the MobiReadathon (left to right): Rasesemola Elias, Principal Librarian, Fezile Dabi District; Mzwandile Radebe, Principal Librarian, Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality; Jeannet Molopyane, Director, UFS Library and Information Services; Nomabhaso Ramugondo, Director, Free State Provincial Library Services; Elmari Kruger, Deputy Director, Motheo District Municipality; Larshan Naicker, Deputy Director, UFS Library and Information Services; Adele Bezuidenhout, Deputy Director, Fezile Dabi District Municipality; Henna Adendorff, Assistant Manager, Free State Provincial Library Services; and Thandi Gxabu, Librarian, Free State Provincial Library Services.

The University of the Free State (UFS) Department of Library and Information Services recently hosted the 2025 MobiReadathon competition, a digital reading initiative established by the City of Johannesburg Library Services. Now a national programme involving all nine provinces, the competition was introduced to Grade 8 high school learners in the Free State for the first time, with UFS playing a central role in supporting digital literacy and community empowerment.

Held at the UFS Sasol Library on 25 July 2025, the Free State leg of the 2025 MobiReadathon brought together 50 Grade 8 learners from across the province. The room buzzed with excitement as the young readers engaged in digital reading tasks and trivia challenges via mobile devices.

“I never liked reading, and because I am not fluent in English I thought I should start reading, and this initiative has been helpful for me,” said Bohlokwa Dikoetsing, a learner at Bodibeng Secondary School.

Tshepo Kgaola, also a participant, said the most exciting part of the competition was when his team won a voucher for reading after they created a story using artificial intelligence (AI).

“This initiative is part of our digital transformation agenda for public libraries,” said Nomabhaso (Rasby) Ramugondo, Director of the Free State Provincial Library Services. Ramugondo emphasised the issue of reading with understanding in South Africa, a priority that she hopes to see eradicated through programmes like the MobiReadathon. “We had asked Jeff Nyoka from the City of Johannesburg Library Services to come and do a presentation about digital literacy,” she explained. “It was then that a team of digital transformers was established to come up with initiatives like the Reja Buka Reading Festival that will help learners – and that is how the collaboration on the MobiReadathon came about in Free State.” 

“The essence of this collaboration is to promote reading development,” said Tebogo Msimango, Senior Librarian for E-learning Programmes at the City of Johannesburg. Just like Ramugondo, Msimango explains the need to promote digital reading due to the issue of learners not being able to read for meaning.

“The outcome I would like for this initiative is for learners to discover themselves and come to an understanding that with reading, one could go far,” Msimango said. “These collaborations also help with making the learners realise that they could also come into the university space, and a good example is the tour that they were taken on around the library.”

UFS Library Services played a pivotal role in facilitating the event, offering logistical support. As part of its community engagement initiatives, the university continues to collaborate on programmes that uplift local youth and promote literacy through innovation.

News Archive

Shuttle services for senior medical students
2011-09-26

 
Senior medical students who make use of the shuttle services are standing next to the mini-bus.

On Friday, 30 September 2011, our university will officially launch its shuttle service for medical students. This function will take place from 12:00 to 13:00 at the Faculty of Health Sciences’ CJC Nel Reception Venue in the Francois Retief Building on our Bloemfontein Campus.

Two years ago. Dr Scarpa Schoeman began working at Internal Medicine at our Faculty of Health Sciences. Early on, he identified the transport problems of fourth- and fifth-year medical students (Phase-3 students) in the English class.
 
There are 65 Phase-3 students in the English class who are currently struggling with transport and who are part of this project. About 90% of them are bursary students at the university who, according to Schoeman, are consequently also struggling with finances. These students used public transport like taxis to move between hospital rounds and classes in the past. On average, it would cost them up to R4 000 per year for these daily travels between the UFS and the various training hospitals.
 
By the end of March 2011, NetCare had donated two mini-busses to the UFS and since 11 April, the shuttle services were available to medical students. Prof. Gert van Zyl (Dean of our Faculty of Health Sciences), Mr Mickey Gordon (Head: Marketing, Institutional Advancement and Sport) and the Rector, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, negotiated with NetCare. Gordon was also responsible for the branding of the busses. PPS and Pfizer are both sponsors who contributed to this.
 
This project is managed by Dr Schoeman, assisted by Mrs Anne-Marie Nel, who handles the administration as the Phase-3 secretary.
 
“It is important for us from the project management that students won’t see this as another taxi, but as a shuttle service of the university. Any senior medical student may make use of it, but it is mainly the under-privileged student from the English class who makes use of it.”
 
The two Quantum mini-busses do the circuit according to fixed schedules each day.  The route starts at the Francois Retief Building on our Bloemfontein Campus and then travels to the National Hospital, the Free State Psychiatric Complex (Oranje), Pelonomi, 3 Military Hospital (at Tempe) and then back again to Universitas Hospital.

 

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