Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

UFS hosts global summit to advance student well-being

23 July 2025 | Story Tshepo Tsotetsi | Photo Kaleidoscope Studios

Global Student Well-being Summit 2025 — Students from across South Africa and the continent gathered at the University of the Free State’s South Campus for the 2025 Global Student Well-Being Summit, engaging in three days of dialogue, learning, and collaboration.

The University of the Free State (UFS) recently hosted the 2025 Global Student Well-being Summit, bringing together more than 20 institutions from across South Africa and the African continent. The three-day event, which took place from 16 to 18 July at the UFS South Campus, was themed ‘Co-Creating Student Well-being Strategies from the Student’s Perspective’ and positioned students at the centre of the conversation on well-being in higher education.

Universities such as the University of Zambia, National University of Lesotho, University of Namibia, the international Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, and 15 South African universities were among those represented by students, academics, institutional leaders, and wellness experts. Together, they tackled pressing issues related to mental health, academic pressure, inclusion, identity, and care in university spaces.

Building a culture of well-being and collaboration

“We came here to address the critical issues that our students are facing, especially in relation to student well-being,” said Dr Temba Hlasho, Executive Director of Student Affairs at UFS, in his opening remarks. “In today’s fast-paced and demanding academic landscape, student well-being is essential for academic success, personal growth, and future career prospects.”

The summit’s programme included plenaries and parallel sessions covering a broad range of topics such as healthy masculinity, transactional sex, stigma and discrimination, and the struggles of minority groups in higher education. These sessions were led by a combination of students and staff, reflecting the summit’s commitment to co-creation.

In a recorded address, UFS Vice-Chancellor and Principal Prof Hester C. Klopper highlighted the need for a collective response to student well-being across institutions and national borders. “They are part of a shared human experience that demands a shared response,” she said. “Students are not merely receivers of academic knowledge – they are whole human beings… carrying hopes and fears, dreams and anxieties.”

Prof Klopper also pointed to the need for honesty and vulnerability in the sector. “We should not be scared to fail – as long as we fail forward,” she said, adding that innovation in student support comes not only from sharing best practices but from learning what doesn’t work.

Student participants described the summit as eye-opening and deeply personal. “I realised that mental health is crucial, serving as the driving force behind daily functioning,” said Olwethu Sigcu, a BCom in Economics and Finance (extended) student from the UFS Bloemfontein Campus. “I previously overlooked its significance, but the summit motivated me to adopt a more comprehensive approach to health – considering physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.”

Institutional Student Representative Council President Mpho Maloka said the experience offered both leadership growth and personal transformation. “As a young woman navigating complex spaces, I was given an opportunity to grow that I didn’t even know I needed,” she said. “This summit is not just another checkbox on a list of student initiatives – it represents a culture.”

Dr Hlasho also noted that the outcomes of the summit align with several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 4 (Quality Education), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). He encouraged students to lead the shift towards healthier, more inclusive communities, stressing the need for long-term impact driven by young people.

The summit closed with a clear message: student well-being is not a side programme but is foundational to academic success and meaningful social change. And it must be co-created with students, not for them.

News Archive

Teacher professionalism and status under Commonwealth radar

2010-03-26

From the left are: Ms Simone De Cormarmond, Chairperson: Commonwealth Foundation; Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor, University of the Free State (UFS); Mr Samuel Isaacs, CEO: SAQA; and Dr Carol Anne Spreen, Lecturer at the University of Maryland, USA).
Photo: Ian van Straaten

International delegates attending the 5th Annual Commonwealth Teacher Research Symposium held at the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein this week unanimously agreed that more research still had to be done on issues of recognition, registration and standards affecting teachers and teaching across Commonwealth countries.

This two-day gathering of researchers, officials and representatives of regional international organisations and higher education institutions agreed that issues of teacher migration, the professionalism of teachers, teacher preparation and the use of teaching standards, as well as the comparability and recognition of teacher qualifications should be further researched.

The delegates agreed on the following based on the research and data that were presented and shared with all the participants:

Teacher migration is recognised as an increasing global phenomenon that requires ongoing research in the Commonwealth.
Recognising that inequalities and differences within and across Commonwealth countries exist, and considering that fair and ethical treatment in the international recruitment of teachers is an important cornerstone of the Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol.

Teacher training, the recognition of teacher qualifications, the professional registration of teachers and the development of professional teacher standards should be actively encouraged through ongoing pan-Commonwealth research.

An increased acknowledgement of the role of the professionalisation of teachers through an improved understanding of teacher qualifications and standards.
There should be a specific research focus on teacher preparation and the use of teaching standards.

An increased comparability and recognition of teacher qualifications across Commonwealth countries should be actively encouraged.
Advocacy of teachers’ rights, effective protection of the vulnerable teacher, and appropriate strategies should be promoted to uplift the status of teachers and teaching as a profession.

The Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol, amongst other things, aims to balance the rights of teachers to migrate internationally against the need to protect the integrity of national education systems, and to prevent the exploitation of the scarce human resources of poor countries.

Delivering his keynote address at the symposium, the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, decried the quality of professional qualifications in South Africa.

“We have become very good at manufacturing outcomes. We actually have become very good at giving an impression of having achieved particular outcomes without having achieved them at all,” he said.
“So what does it mean to talk about outcomes in an unequal country with unequal resources? What does it mean to talk about qualifications when we do not trust the outcomes?”

He suggested that the teaching profession should be subjected to a peer review mechanism and that the practice of setting minimum standards should be dealt away with because it results in minimum outcomes.

Dr Carol Anne Spreen, lecturer at the University of Maryland in the USA, proposed that countries should improve the quality of their own teachers instead of importing teachers from other countries.

The research symposium was organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat and hosted by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and the UFS.

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt@ufs.ac.za
26 March 2010

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept