UFS hosts top achieving KZN high schools
The University of the Free State (UFS), together with its Student Recruitment Services department, hosted a breakfast for more than 30 top achieving KwaZulu-Natal high schools and principals in Durban on Thursday, March 5.
Vukuzakhe High School, Umlazi was one of the 30 high schools in attendance.
The relationship between the university and high schools in Durban and surrounding areas remains vital to the successful recruitment and enrollment of high performing students at the university. Principals and teachers play an integral role in advising and motivating their learners to apply to tertiary institutions, and each school principal present was awarded with a certificate for their effortless contribution to student recruitment and enrollments at the UFS.
Queensburgh High School, Durban was one of the 30 high schools in attendance.
“Our primary goal as Student Recruitment Services at UFS is to recruit the best talent in the country and other selected countries. This enables the university to develop and harvest the potential that will ultimately contribute to the generation of new knowledge and wealth, leading to the emergence of new discoveries and innovations,” says Nomonde Mbadi, Director of Student Recruitment Services.
Nomonde Mbadi, Director of Student Recruitment Services.
Mbadi adds that the university boasts Africa’s largest microscope facility for undergraduate training, and it is currently conceptualizing numerous topics to share with stakeholders through webinars in line with the university’s 2020 focus on visibility and impact.
Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, Prof Francis Petersen, says the university accommodates hundreds of students across its three campuses and offers a wide range of good quality undergraduate and postgraduate programmes for students to choose from, which are nationally and internationally recognised.
“Within the context of what's happening currently in South Africa, the UFS creates and provides a safe environment for students to attend and focus on their academic projects. The university has cutting edge curricula together with a strong engagement with private sector industry and commerce, and government, which ultimately increases employability or the probability of employability of our students,” says Petersen.
The Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, Prof Francis Petersen.
“The UFS has a global outlook, providing a high sense of belonging and welcoming to its staff and students, as well as to the rest of the university community. It focuses extensively on inter-disciplinarily research and partnerships, and we are producing knowledge that I believe is globally competitive,” Petersen adds.
“We (UFS) believe that schools are a key component in the ecosystem of a very strong economy for a country and therefore they are components that we strategically have to engage with. In the past, universities expected students to enter higher education straight out of schools, but now our focus is on recruiting good quality students who are informed about what they would like to achieve while at university".
“The engagement with the school principals aims to bring that message across – that we don’t want to focus on marketing, but instead would like to partner with them and understand what their challenges are, and how the university can help prepare the school curriculum for the future of world of work that can be unpredictable and complex. That is where the symbiotic relationship needs to become more practical,” says Petersen.
For more information about the University of the Free State, visit www.ufs.ac.za