The University of Limpopo (UL) is investigating an alleged incident involving more than 400 third year Psychology students who purportedly walked out of the exam hall last Tuesday complaining that their question paper was too difficult to write.
The students reportedly disrupted the exam session as they all walked out of the hall, tearing up question papers.
UL Vice-Chancellor, Mahlo Mokgalong said the university has never encountered such an incident since its inception and investigation is underway. “It is the first time such a thing happens at the university but we are not shocked because students are capable of anything,” Mokgalong said.
One of the students who spoke on condition of anonymity said the only reason they refused to write the paper was because it was a HEDA031 (Educational Psychology) test scheduled for 20 February 2018. “We were going to write the test if it was set for us, HEDA032 (Developmental Studies in Education) students. It wasn’t difficult; we just can’t write a test that was not set for us to begin with. We are done with HEDA031 and all we wanted was to move on to HEADA032 because our degrees await us. We studied for HEDA032 not HEDA031.”
The incident has since sparked talks in the community with many labelling the students as a disgrace to the University.
According to a bystander the incident has damaged the reputation of the institution. “It is really sad, they want free education and easy exams. It can’t be, UL is one of the biggest Institutions of learning in the whole world and students should study hard and stop complaining about things that don’t matter.”
Asked if a case has been opened against the students, acting spokesperson for the university, Johannes Selepe said no one had been reported to the Police as it was an internal matter.
Provincial Police spokesperson, Moatshe Ngoepe confirmed that the university had not opened any case against the students. “That is a university matter and we don’t have any case opened against the students,” Ngoepe said.
Meanwhile, all academic activities at Capricorn TVET campuses, Seshego, Senwabarwana and Polokwane commenced on Monday (today) following a week long suspension as a result of the strike action by the students.
The students marched to the Capricorn TVET central office in Polokwane last Thursday to meet and share their concerns with the college management regarding the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
Students bashed the college management for not ensuring that all students on its campuses get the full benefits of the scheme.
“Management has failed us. NSFAS has paid a lot of money into the college’s account but they don’t want to give the full amount of money to the relevant students. They are the only ones who can authorise the money. They don’t want to pay for accommodation and transport. We were told that one can only be eligible for the full maximum fees if he or she has an 80% attendance rate. That is absurd and impossible because most of the students joined the colleges in March, so they have only attended a few classes.”
Some students have accused the school management of stealing from the scheme and the students. “The problem here is that NFSAS pays the money into the account of the college and the college must transfer the money into the student account. I was supposed to get R80 000 for my course but I only got R35 000, so where is the rest of the money. I can’t get my certificate because of the outstanding fees. We are taking this matter to the public protector,” said Manoko Lefela, a third year Marketing student from Senwabarwana campus.
College spokesperson Tumelo Morobe said they are happy that they managed to resolve all their students’s grievances regarding the NFSAS. “We met with them on Thursday to discuss issues around NFSAS. We made sure that all of them have their allowances so that they can go back to classes. We had already paid the money to them but the message has not been conveyed to the students by the student representative council,” Morobe said.
Story & photos: Herbert Rachuene
>>herbert.observer@gmail.com
