CPUT extends registration deadline after violence
PUBLIC violence and vandalism have prompted the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) to extend its late registration closing date for all existing students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, as well as for those who have applied to register and have received acceptances from the university.
There have been several incidents of violence at the institution’s Bellville campus over the past week, with at least 17 cars damaged and food trucks set alight.
In an email to students, the university’s registrar said: “In light of the disruptions experienced over the last few days, and the subsequent recommendation, the registrar has extended the late registration closing date to
March 11, 2020.”
The protest actions started last Monday, when classes where abruptly interrupted.
CPUT s executive management has since received a list of 13 demands.
These include cancelling the suspension of students following the #FeesMustFall protests; the provision of more residences and housing; appointing a new caterer and offering more affordable food; and the resignation of the executive director of finance.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a student leader said they were not behind the violence. He said five students had been suspended and four had been arrested in connection with violence on Thursday night.
The arrested students are expected to appear in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court on charges of public violence today, he said.
“We will be supporting our comrades at court. From there we are going back to the vice-chancellor to request a response to our demands. We want their response, we are not going back to class until executive management responds and meets our demands.
“Mass meetings will also be held in Cape Town and at the Mowbray campus (today), where they are planning to shut down as well,” the student leader added.
Meanwhile, following a meeting with the South African Union of Students on Friday, Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Blade Nzimande said he would continue to monitor the developing situation at CPUT.
“No deserving student should be excluded, yet some are excluded on the basis of their inability to pay what they owe
SEVERAL students from universities across South Africa are being prevented from continuing with their studies on the basis of financial exclusion, which comes into effect when a student has not paid a certain percentage of their historical debt before registration.
The circumstances that lead to a student being financially excluded vary. Some are excluded because they have exceeded the number of times that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) permits a student to fail before withdrawing their funding as per the N+1 and N+2 rule.
The other group of students, which makes up the majority, are those who do not qualify for NSFAS and have not been able to secure adequate alternative funding for their studies, which leads to them acquiring debt.
During an interview on Umhlobo Wenene FM on Thursday, Dr Randall Carolissen, who is the administrator of NSFAS, used the platform to highlight the institutional challenges faced by the organisation which result in the delay of allowance distribution (another reason for protest at tertiary institutions).
He stated that approximately R9 billion is owed to South African universities by students who are not funded by NSFAS.
On hearing this figure, it’s not difficult to understand why the management of universities such as Fort Hare are refusing to give in to protesting students’ demands of all being allowed to register regardless of their outstanding fees.
Doing so would lead universities into financial distress and make normal operations difficult to carry out.
Student leaders have often problematised institutional autonomy, which means that although public South African universities are under the central authority of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), each university operates on the basis of policies that are decided on by the university’s council.
Hence, there are instances where there is a mismatch between the directives given by the Ministry of Higher Education and what actually gets implemented at universities.
For example, Minister Nzimande has said no academically deserving student should be excluded – yet some students are being excluded on the basis of their inability to pay what they owe, despite being academically progressive.
The existence of two centres of power, (council and the DHET), which contradict each other at times, creates confusion and frustration among the key stakeholders – students
In seeking a solution to the problem of financial exclusion, perhaps students should abandon their militant approach, which results in damage to infrastructure – and negotiate with the universities’ stakeholders, so that both parties get what they want (universities, the money that it is owed to them; and students, being allowed to register).
For example, instead of being made to pay 15% of outstanding fees, a means test could be done so that students are made to pay the minimum amount that they can afford, then enter into an agreement of how the remaining amount will be paid after registration. SIVUYISIWE HELA | East London