The students blockaded the entrance with debris and burning tyres. Their concerns included issues of the academic year extension and accommodation allowances for off-campus students during the extended period. They alleged that some of them had been evicted from their private accommodation facilities by service providers to whom they owe rent.
Read: University teaching and learning go online According to Dr Paul Maminza, the dean of student affairs, the management of Mbombela Campus met with the Student Representative Council (SRC) members last week Monday to find ways to resolve some of the issues raised by the students.
“We normally start our exams around October, however due to the Covid-19 outbreak we arranged to have two exam phases. The final year students would write their exams from December 1 to 25. The rest of the students would write their exams during the second phase, January 6 to 29. This means that the 2020 academic year was extended to January 29, 2021,” explained Maminza. He indicated that the extension of the exam period was earlier discussed with students.
Responding to the issue of accommodation allowances, Maminza said during the lockdown, when the university was still closed, students received their accommodation and meal allowances in full and accommodation service providers were paid while students were away.
“We had requested a meeting with the service providers to ask them to allow the students on their premises for the duration of the exams as NSFAS said that it will not pay for the extended period nationally. “We told the SRC to tell the affected students that if they miss the current exams, the university will make arrangement for them write at a later stage,” he said.
Maminza said the university management was surprised by the students’ action of closing down and vandalising the institution on Tuesday after the university management had addressed their concerns.
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