Fort Hare threatens legal action over degree debacle
The University of Fort Hare has threatened to take legal action against a regulatory body overseeing its speech and language therapy degree, and maintains the degree remains accredited.
Challenges to the status of the qualification have meant students who completed the programme are unable to graduate and find work in their chosen profession.
The Health Professions Council of SA’s speech, language and hearing board is tasked with regulating the four-year programme offered at the university since 2018.
The first cohort of students was meant to graduate in 2022.
Students who completed the programme have expressed frustration that they are sitting at home with no degree certificate, qualification or work opportunities.
According to the HPCSA, its speech, language and hearing board told the university that, based on the report of the reviewed degree programme and the challenges in the review report, it was clear students graduating from the programme would not meet the HPCSA criteria to register as speech and language therapists.
Christopher Tsatsawane, head of corporate affairs at HPCSA, said last week that the university needed “to wholly implement the improvement plan to remediate and address to satisfy the recommendations”.
Lorna Ndamase, a student who completed the programme, accused UFH of not being transparent and honest about issues related to the programme.
“The problems were there from the beginning of 2019,” Ndamase said.
“Students had concerns regarding the programme and they were raised internally.”
Another student who completed the programme, Lutho Momoza, said: “It has been three years now. I’m still unemployed with no hope of getting a job.
“We spent most of 2022 at home writing emails back and
Students who completed the programme have expressed frustration that they are sitting at home with no degree certificate, qualification or work opportunities.
forth about the situation until June 2023, when we had to go back for the intensive programme.
“We couldn’t start working as the HPCSA did not approve the degree, and was not happy with the standard and quality of education we were provided.”
UFH spokesperson JP Roodt said the university was unhappy with the conduct of the HPCSA’s speech, language and hearing board.
“We condemn, in the strongest manner possible, the board’s decision to prematurely discuss matters in public forums ahead of two reports due to the university by the HPCSA and the Council on Higher Education,” Roodt said.
“This has not only amplified distress among our students, but has resulted in misleading reporting by the media, and cast doubt on the accreditation status of our BSc in speech and language programme.
“It should be categorically stated that this remains a programme that is accredited by the HPCSA and the CHE since its introduction in 2018.”
In a statement, UFH’s students representative council said: “We want to assure the affected students we are attending to this matter.
“We are not going to rest; we will also escalate it to all relevant departments.”
Tsatsawane said UFH’s programme was evaluated on site on June 22 and 23 2021, followed by a virtual interview on July 6 2021.
“UFH’s report on the programme’s evaluation highlighted several challenges noted with concern by the speech, language and hearing board — staffing, curriculum, assessments, resources, clinical education, quality assurance, governance, student recruitment and final year students.”
He said the board reviewed the progress report on the implementation of the improvement plan submitted by UFH on November 13 last year.
“The board reviewed the submission and found there were still aspects of the improvement plan on which the board needed more clarity — on aspects including, but not limited to, staffing, curriculum and governance.”
CHE chief executive Whitfield Green said the Higher Education Quality Committee had approved undertaking a review of the programme and this review was in progress.
Green said the HEQC approved the programme’s accreditation before commencement, with several conditions; these were subsequently met and the programme was fully accredited in December 2016.
Roodt said after engagements with the HPCSA speech, language and hearing board on its concerns, UFH implemented a six-month intervention in 2023 with the board’s approval and oversight to enable the student cohorts of 2018 and 2019 to register with the HPCSA, once they graduated this year.
“Concerningly, while a report is still due to us, the board channelled its energy on a media roadshow that resulted in various and several misleading reports about the university, which has harmed the reputation of [UFH] and created anxiety for the concerned students.
“[UFH] will now approach the highest structure of the HPCSA on the conduct of the board while the university’s attorneys have also been instructed to review the matter.
“The university has been and continues to be in discussions with all stakeholders, especially the students and their parents or legal guardians.”
Tsatsawane said yesterday: “We are not commenting on this matter any more to give way to HPCSA engagements with the university.”