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27 October 2025 | Story Sefako Mokhosoa | Photo Supplied
BANKSETA
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.

News Archive

UFS scoops up MACE special award for consistent excellence
2016-12-02

Description: MACE awards 2016 Tags: MACE awards 2016 

From the left: Martie Nortjé, Lerato Sebe, Thabo Kessah,
Lacea Loader, Lelanie de Wet, Leonie Bolleurs,
Leslé-Ann George, and Mamosa Makaya from the
UFS Communication and Brand Management team
at the MACE Excellence Awards, where they received
two Merit Awards, two Excellence Awards, four Gold Awards,
one Platinum Award, and one Severus Cerff: Special Award.

The Department of Communication and Brand Management at the University of the Free State (UFS) won ten awards during the Excellence Awards of the national association of Marketing, Advancement, and Communication in Education (MACE), held on 24 November 2016 in Cape Town. Hundred and sixty two awards were presented at the event.

At the awards ceremony, the department further received the Severus Cerff Award for demonstrating consistent and outstanding excellence in the 2016 Excellence Awards Programme.

The awards ceremony is part of the MACE Annual National Congress, which took place from 23 to 25 November 2016. The MACE Congress is a platform where experts from the fields of marketing, advancement, and communication share experiences and best practices. This year’s programme included speakers such as Dr Imtiaaz Sooliman, Founder of Gift of the Givers, Ruda Landman, Non-Executive Director of Media24 Limited, and Jonathan Shapiro, well-known cartoonist.

Lacea Loader, Director of the Department of Communication and Brand Management, said, “I am extremely proud of our achievements and I’m privileged to work with such a high-performing team. The fact that we received the Severus Cerff Award for consistent excellence is an additional, exceptional accomplishment.”

Other awards include a Platinum Award, four Gold Awards, two Excellence Awards, and two Merit Awards. Martie Nortjé, Assistant Director: Branding and Merchandise, received a Platinum Award for KovsieGear, the university’s merchandise shop. The Platinum Award is given to all the entries receiving a Gold Award of Excellence in a category, and the best entry in a division receives the award.

Leonie Bolleurs, Assistant Director: Internal Communication, received the Gold Awards for the Sound [W]right UFS student tone and voice guide, the Spaces and Places Video, the Student Bursary Fund Campaign: Photographs as well as the Excellence Awards for the Student Bursary Fund Campaign: Video and the Expanded Footprints Publication. Loader was awarded with the Gold Award for the Facilitation of the review of the UFS Language Policy. This award is given to the highest-scoring entry in every category.

Thabo Kessah, Senior Officer: Internal Communication at the Qwaqwa Campus, and Loader each received a Merit Award for the Ke Eo Taba Qwaqwa Newsletter and Prof Jonathan Jansen’s Commemorative Book: For such a time as this.

Earlier this year, KovsieGear received Gold at the 2016 Prism Awards of the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA). The B Safe Take Action campaign also recently received an award at the African Excellence Awards in Cape Town.

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