OVERVIEW
Education and training Rural schools are being built.
SECTOR INSIGHT A commercialisation unit at UFS turns research into business.
P
huleng Primary School came into existence in 2018, the result of a partnership between De Beers Consolidated Mines and the Free State Department of Education. The R25-million school is part of Voorspoed Mine’s Rural Schools Development Programme and provides five blocks of four classrooms each for the primary school, a Grade R section and facilities for media and cooking. Basic education and training statistics show that access to schooling and training in the province has increased markedly in recent years. Enrolment in Grade R (reception year) is increasing rapidly. There are 663 public schools and 263 other community sites offering schooling in the Free State. School transport is provided to more than 10 000 pupils. The University of the Free State has 158 researchers rated by the National Research Foundation (NRF), two A-rated scientists and five tier-one SARChi research chairs. The university has 18 international research partnerships and produces an average of 240 postgraduate research degrees every year. A commercialisation unit assists researchers to get products to market either by licensing the intellectual property or by taking royalties and/or shares in a spin-off company. The Central University of Technology (CUT) has a main campus in Bloemfontein and branches in Welkom and Kimberley. There are three faculties: Engineering and Information and Communication Technology, Health and Environmental Sciences, and Management Sciences. Researchers at units such as the Centre for Community, Environmental and Industrial Development tackle important regional issues. The Free State Provincial Government is implementing South Africa’s largest global skills development programme in support of implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP). The free overseas training pro-
ONLINE RESOURCES Central University of Technology: www.cut.ac.za Free State Department of Education: www.fsdoe.fs.gov.za University of the Free State: www.ufs.ac.za
FREE STATE BUSINESS 2020
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gramme entails about 905 students studying in leading universities in China, India, Germany, Portugal, Russia, Turkey and Belarus. Fields of study range from all kinds of engineering, to computer science, medicine and pharmacy. India hosts students in the health sciences sector. Germany offers sustainable mining and remediation, computer engineering, international trade economics, electrical chemicals engineering, molecular biology and genetics, and civil engineering. The Free State has just over 14 000 students at four Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, taught by 400 lecturers. The colleges have multiple sites. Maluti TVET College in Phuthaditjhaba, for example, offers classes at seven sites. Flavius Mareka TVET College has Kroonstad and Sasolburg venues. Motheo TVET College operates in Bloemfontein and Thaba Nchu, while Goldfields TVET College is in Welkom. Technical schools are being upgraded with resources being allocated to the recapitalisation programme. A provincial internship programme gives graduates a chance to work in provincial government departments and municipalities.
