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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.
Largest group on African continent introduced to Sign Language
2016-07-05
The introduction of basic Sign Language
as part of the UFS101 course was a great
success. From left are Susan Lombaard,
Annemarie le Roux, Tshisikhawe Dzivhani
(all from the Department of South African
Sign Language), and Lauren Oosthuizen
(UFS101). Photo: Leonie Bolleurs
As a result of a new initiative at the University of the Free State (UFS), the largest group of students on the African continent took part in a first-year seminar which included Sign Language.
A total of 5400 students on the Bloemfontein Campus and 1000 on Qwaqwa Campus were taught basic Sign Language by Susan Lombaard, Acting Head of the Department of South African Sign Language, and her team members, Tshisikhawe Dzivhani, Annemarie le Roux, and Nicolene de Klerk.
It forms part of the UFS101 module presented to all first-year students. The initiative, begun in the first semester of 2016, will form part of UFS101 in future and was met with an overwhelmingly positive response.
Three segments of course
Sign Language was taught in three segments and positioned as large-class learning experiences in the Callie Human Centre (Bloemfontein Campus) and the Nelson Mandela Hall (Qwaqwa Campus). Students were taught about deaf culture, Sign Language theory, as well as how to sign their names, exchange pleasantries, and have a basic conversation.
A valuable skill to have
“It (the Sign Language experience) was very interesting and helpful,” said one of the students. “It is important to have the ability to communicate with all sorts of people, and to be able to help them in a crisis”. According to another, it sparked an interest in Sign Language. “It is a skill I will continue to use and try to learn more from it,” said a third.
Lombaard – in collaboration with the UFS101 team – will be presenting a paper related to this achievement at the DeafNet Africa Conference in Johannesburg, from 26 to 30 September 2016.