Quality education, gender and the economy is the topic for the University of the Free State (UFS) in partnership with the Charlotte Mannya-Maxeke Institute’s annual Charlotte Maxeke Memorial Lecture taking place virtually this year. 

This year marks 150 years since the birth of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke, whose heroic life as South Africa’s first black female university graduate is a beacon for gender equality. Celebrating this 150-year milestone is an opportune moment to recognise that strong interventions are needed to remove systemic and cultural barriers that violently perpetuate inequality in every sphere of the economy, particularly those that marginalise women and girls. 

Gender equality is a global priority and a South African concern. Among other interventions, it requires an approach that ensures people of all genders have access to and are empowered through education. Globally, large gender gaps exist in accessing, completing, and continuing with schooling and with higher education studies. These global disparities are evident in South Africa and gender injustices in education hinder a global majority (including women and members of the LGBTQIA+ communities) from fully participating in and benefiting from education. These obstacles also exist within universities that face unique challenges in advancing the gender agenda.

The virtual lecture will take place as follow:

Date: Wednesday, 27 October 2021

Time: 17:30-19:00

RSVP: Alicia Pienaar, Pienaaran1@ufs.ac.za, by 25 October 2021 after which a link will be shared

Prof Joy Owen, Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the UFS is the Programme Director. Ms Zubeida Jaffer, a multiple award-winning South African journalist, and the first woman in Africa to have won the coveted foreign journalist award from the National Association of Black Journalists in the US, is the Keynote speaker. Ms Madiepetsane Charlotte Lobe, Acting Chief Operations Officer in the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, and Prof Pearl Sithole, Campus Vice-Principal: Academic and Research on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus in Phuthaditjhaba is the other two speakers. 

For more information on the speakers and Programme Director, please visit the UFS website.