EFF calls for end to varsity points system
THE EFF wants NMMU to do away with its academic points system when enrolling students.
The political party said this excluded those who could not make the cut because they came from poor homes.
EFF SRC presidential candidate Luxolo Jacobs has proposed the university develops an affirmative action system to take into consideration each student’s economic background as well as the academic record.
This forms part of the EFF student chapter’s manifesto as it steps up its campaign to take on Sasco and Daso in next week’s elections.
Jacobs said the academic exclusion of students for financial or academic reasons was indicative of an institutionalised system of disadvantaging poor students.
He said the university also needed transformation of its academic staff.
Because of the low number of black graduates in the engineering and architecture departments, Jacobs called for the introduction of black supplementary instructors.
“There must be a balance between African and white lecturers,” he said.
University director of transformation, monitoring and evaluation Ruby-Ann Levendal said it was accepted that academic staff had to be diverse.
“A number of our discussions have been on NMMU as an African university and on how to help students to identify with the university.”
Senior director of communication and stakeholder liaison Lebohang Hashatse said NMMU had been going through a series of interventions through meetings, forums and the implementation of its Vision 2020.