Varsities using the web in bid to save academic year
THE University of Cape Town has suspended “face-to-face” classes in a last-ditch plan to make it through the academic year.
Vice-chancellor Max Price said in a statement yesterday that classes for undergraduate students had been suspended from tomorrow, and the planned curriculum would be made available to students in “mixed teaching modes” — including online platforms — in the expectation that exams could go ahead on November 7.
Price said the decision had been made to find a “sustainable way for UCT to . . . continue its academic and other work”.
“Postgraduate studies that rely on classroom teaching will also be delivered using alternative, mixed-mode and online methods. Research- and project-based postgraduate work should be arranged on an individual basis with supervisors and course conveners.
“There have been ongoing, extensive engagements [with protesting students], on many occasions and for many hours, including negotiations facilitated by an independent professional mediator.
“Efforts at engagement will continue. But we have to accept that, for the moment, the leaders of the protesting students do not yet accept the need to continue the academic programme without disruption.”
He said campus libraries, study areas and computer laboratories would remain open, and critical services across campus would be “sustained to support students as they conclude their work for the year and prepare for exams”.
UCT spokesman Elijah Moholola said some faculties would be able to offer classes while those that are unable to do so, would use other means.
The University of the Witwatersrand yesterday vowed to continue with lectures, despite “wanton destruction” involving arson and looting near its Braamfontein campus on Friday night.
Nine people were arrested, four of them students, after vehicles were torched and a nightclub damaged.
They are due to appear in court tomorrow.
The violence came hours after the university announced a 10pm to 6am campus curfew.
An SABC van and a tow truck were among the vehicles torched, while a nearby nightclub, The Orbit, where singer Sibongile Khumalo was performing, was also damaged.
Police opened fire and used rubber bullets and teargas on protesters.
“The violence in Braamfontein is completely unacceptable,” Wits management said in a statement.
“We know that it is a minority who have tried to cripple the academic programme through intimidation and violence. As we slowly managed to get classes back on track, there was an explicit call from some student leaders to destroy university property and to commit arson.
“Should we truly sacrifice the futures of 36 000 students? The majority of students want the academic programme to continue,” it said.
The academic programme would resume tomorrow, and police and security would be present to protect staff and students who return to class.
The university is among many that are pushing back exam dates and hiring extra security in a desperate bid to ensure students have a chance to finish the academic year.
Wits spokeswoman Shirona Patel said on Friday the academic programme had been extended by two weeks, with exams to start early next month.
Universities, including the University of the Western Cape, have made online platforms available to assist students to prepare for exams, scheduled to start on November 7.
The University of Pretoria, where there was an attempted #FeesMustFall shutdown this week, said it would enforce strict access control on campus to ensure that the academic programme resumed, with exams set for November 14.
The University of Limpopo said this week it had drafted a recovery plan that would ensure exams took place.