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27 October 2025
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Story Sefako Mokhosoa
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Photo Supplied
Ten Grade 12 learners from Mampoi Secondary School in Phuthaditjhaba.
On 1 October 2025, the Projects and Innovation Directorate in the Faculty of Education at the University of the Free State (UFS) proudly hosted a certificate ceremony to honour ten Grade 12 learners from Mampoi Secondary School in Phuthaditjhaba on the Qwaqwa Campus. These learners completed a Skills Development Initiative and Workshop Series focused on digital literacy and ICT skills – a programme designed to equip rural youth with the tools they need to thrive in a digital world.
The initiative, which ran from May to August 2025, was made possible through a strategic partnership with BANKSETA to bridge the digital divide in rural communities. The learners received hands-on training in essential digital tools. Each learner also received a tablet to support continued learning and personal growth beyond the classroom.
The Director of the office in the Faculty of Education, Dr Kwazi Magwenzi, stressed that digital skills promote independence and self-directed learning. “Grade 12 is a time when learners should manage their studies, meet deadlines, and explore their options,” she said. “Digital fluency supports that autonomy. It enables learners to use online research, interactive tools, e-learning, and collaboration platforms to make learning more effective, flexible, and aligned with their pace and style. In Grade 12, where the stakes are high – with exams, tertiary entrance, and career choices – this ability helps learners become more self-directed, confident, and equipped.”
The programme not only built learners’ confidence in using ICT tools for learning and communication but also prepared them for the technologically driven environments they will encounter in institutions of higher learning.
Beyond developing digital skills, the project offered learners valuable exposure to the university environment, as their training took place on campus. Inspired by the success of this pilot, the Faculty of Education now aims to expand the initiative to reach more schools and learners across the region. The vision is to scale up access to digital education and empower more young people in rural areas with the skills necessary for academic and professional success.
This ceremony marked the conclusion of a successful training programme and the beginning of a long-term commitment to digital empowerment and lifelong learning in rural communities.
UFS entomologists describe a new spider species
2014-02-19
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It is about 3mm in size and almost looks like a ladybird, but this new spider is the cause of great excitement at the University of the Free State’s (UFS’s) Department of Zoology and Entomology.
The new species of spider, now known as Rhene amanzi, was recently described for the first time and was ‘introduced’ to other arachnologist at the recent congress of the African Arachnology Society at Amanzi Private Reserve.
Dr Charles Haddad, senior lecturer in the UFS’s Department of Zoology and Entomology, said they already stumbled upon the male spider in 2010 when a student was doing research at the reserve. After a very long process, the spider was described and a couple of weeks ago, whilst at the congress, they also found the female.
“Up to now we only know that the spider lives in trees in the Brandfort area. The range could be wider, but since it was only described recently, other arachnologists will only now be able to identify accurately.”
Dr Haddad says they still have to determine how many eggs the female is able to lay, what the spider’s life cycle looks like and what their habitual preferences are.
“What we do know is that it probably isn’t poisonous and that the spider imitates a ladybird in order to protect itself against predators.”