Oldrin Masowa

Local libraries often do not have the means to acquire much-needed computers and books on a regular basis. Staff of the North-West University (NWU) Library and Information Service (LIS) in Potchefstroom saw this need and reached out with a generous donation to the JB Marks community libraries.

Louise Vos, LIS senior manager, says the donation on 15 August consisted of 10 computers and nearly 800 books.

by Ontiretse Motingwa

Traditionally a dojo is a place for learning or meditation, most often in the field of martial arts, and the Mbada residence on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Mahikeng Campus have embraced this philosophy.

The residence recently hosted a women’s dojo at the Great Hall, where they invited boxing and karate sporting codes to give lessons to the ladies who attended on how they should defend themselves against perpetrators.

A team of second-year students from the Faculty of Law on the Vanderbijlpark Campus of the North-West University (NWU) are this year’s winners in the popular annual NWU Juta Mock Trial competition that took place in Potchefstroom on 15 August.

Prof Lesley Wood, director of the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Community-based Educational Research (COMBER) focus area, was recently invited by Dr

Maura Adshead from the Limerick University (UL) in Ireland to collaborate in exploring the possibility of integrating more community-engaged learning into higher education curricula.

During the visit, she also collaborated on adapting the UL’s current community diploma – Community Wellness, Empowerment, Leadership and Life skills (C-WELL), for the South African higher education context.

On 11 August 2022, the North-West University (NWU) Business School launched its Internationalisation Africa Outreach programme in Botswana with the theme “Water is life: sustainable water management in Southern Africa”.

The launch was attended by NWU Business School alumnus, Minister of Land and Water Affairs in Botswana, Dr Kefentse Mzwinila, and the NWU principal and vice-chancellor, Dr Bismark Tyobeka. 

An early childhood education specialist at the North-West University (NWU) has welcomed the recently published, first-ever draft curriculum for teaching coding and robotics from Grades R to 3. However, she emphasises that some hard work lies ahead if the proposed curriculum is to succeed.

The Department of Basic Education published the draft curriculum last year, and Dr Retha van Niekerk, senior lecturer in the Early Childhood Development subject group in the School of Psycho-social Education, says several prerequisites must be met for its successful implementation.

There is an increase in the number of South African young people who are overweight and obese, especially among young females.

This is according to a newly published UNICEF baseline study on diet and physical activity among youth and adolescents for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) prevention in South Africa.

Prof Lebo Gafane-Matemane, an associate professor of Physiology at the North-West University (NWU), is paving the way for the next generation of researchers by carving new paths in cardiovascular health research.

Prof Gafane-Matemane, who carries out her research activities as part of the Hypertension in Africa Research Team (HART) and the Medical Research Council Research Unit for Hypertension and Cardiovascular disease, is making waves in her field. 

Ontiretse Motingwa

The subject group Animal Health on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Mahikeng Campus, in collaboration with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in Mahikeng, recently visited the Lekaleng village close to the campus to offer free rabies vaccinations.