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NSFAS Students urged to sign ‘Acknowledgement of Debt’ forms before registration

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NSFAS Students urged to sign ‘Acknowledgement of Debt’ forms before registration

Ahmed Kajee 

The Department of Higher Education says returning students who have qualified for National Student Financial Aid Scheme(NSFAS) funding should sign acknowledgements of debt before being allowed to register at their respective universities.

This comes after campuses in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal were shut down, with protesters calling for the scrapping of historical debt.

Demonstrators say some students were barred from registering because of outstanding fees which weren’t paid by Nsfas.

However, Higher Minister Naledi Pandor says students under Nsfas who have passed should be allowed to register, despite outstanding fees.

The department’s spokesperson, Lunga Ngqengelele, explains: “A Nsfas qualified student should be allowed to register. All the returning students need to sign an acknowledgement of debt and be allowed to register.”

However, Ngqengelele says this doesn’t apply to all students.

“The call is strictly for the students who are Nsfas qualified. This is not for all students. This is not what the minister said.”

We need to end violence in schools, says Sadtu

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We need to end violence in schools, says Sadtu

Mpumi Kiva

Deputy Minister of Basic Education Enver Surty will on Monday address hundreds of SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) members after concerns about violence in schools and placement of learners.

The mass meeting which is expected to be attended by teachers from across the province will be held at Heideveld Primary School from 2pm.

The call for the mass meeting follows the ongoing violence nationally and the failure by the department to deal with overcrowding in government schools, especially in the Western Cape.

According to the teacher’s union, the government has dismally failed to address the two major issues which has created animosity between parents, teachers and pupils.

Several incidents on school premises among pupils and between teachers and pupils have been reported.

In one disturbing incident, a 16-year-old pupil at the Mpheko Primary School in Peddie in the Eastern Cape was stabbed to death by a fellow pupil this year.

The learner was killed with a knife during an argument while playing on the school grounds.

In another incident last year, two Lenasia Secondary School pupils were suspended after a video of one of them assaulting a teacher went viral on social media.

On Sunday, Sadtu regional secretary Jonovan Rustin said that the union was concerned about the ongoing violence and the overcrowding in township schools.

“Violence in our schools is a serious concern and we need to end it.

“We can’t do it on our own; the department should intervene. We have seen school kids attacking teachers but nothing is being done by the department to end it, instead, the problem is ongoing.

“Teachers are complaining every year about overcrowding in township schools and that still is not being attended to; the situation is really worrisome.

“In former model C schools, they don’t have this problem. They refuse to take numbers that will fill up the entire classroom.

“We hope this meeting will really address the problem because this puts a strain on teachers and parents as well because learning process is affected,” Rustin added.

Cape Argus

EFF students vow to ‘deal decisively’ with those attending DUT lectures

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EFF students vow to ‘deal decisively’ with those attending DUT lectures

Staff Reporter

Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) student leaders at Durban University of Technology (DUT) are expected to lead a march through the city centre on Monday, and have said they ‘will deal decisively’ with those trying to attend lectures as the academic programme resumes.

The march is set to start at 8am from DUT and end at city hall, but EFF Student Command (EFFSC) leaders have also agreed to meet with the institution’s management at the same time.

The EFFSC and Student Representative Council (SRC) leader at DUT, Sesiyanda Godlimpi, said in a statement that they were “very dumbfounded” by a statement from DUT management saying classes would resume on Monday.

“We didn’t have a meeting where we agreed with the management that classes will resume, we only agreed on unblocking of students in two days time but they failed to do that. Their statement shows that the management is undermining the SRC,” said Godlimpi.

“We want to make it clear that we as the SRC led by EFFSC, we don’t agree on resuming of classes while issues of students are still outstanding. There is a student who lost his life for fighting for free education, hence the university wants to continue like nothing has happened. We want justice for Mlungisi Madonsela,” he said.

Twenty-year-old Madonsela was shot in an altercation with private security contracted to the institution at its Steve Biko campus two weeks ago. He later died in hospital. The shooting took place as about 30 students – armed with bricks and rocks – tried to storm an administration building at the campus. A DUT staff member was also seriously injured. She was struck in the face with a brick – hurled by a student – and had to be hospitalised.

“We want to see killers in prison, we don’t want to see the [security] company called EXcellent at DUT. The institution must have their own securities not izinkabi to kill students, who demand what rightfully belongs to them,” said Godlimpi.

He said that lectures would not be allowed to resume while students battled with accommodation and funding.

“We will deal decisively with those who will be found in classes. We just want to make them aware that it won’t be business as usual at DUT.  In conclusion, classes will not resume on Monday until all our demands are met.”

DUT said in a statement issued on Sunday that the decision to resume the academic programme on Monday “was on the basis of the SRC recommendation”.

The institution said it had to postpone a meeting scheduled for Sunday because only five SRC members arrived, “two of which were significantly late”.

Students at the Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT), were also staging protests outside the Umlazi-based campus on Monday and had started burning tyres in the roads.

African News Agency (ANA)

Korean Sh10bn Konza university to open in 2021

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Korean Sh10bn Konza university to open in 2021

James Kariuki 

South Korea will spend Sh10 billion [$99 million] to set up Kenya’s first graduates-only information technology university on a 22-acre plot at Konza Technopolis, Machakos.

The institute, Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (Kenya Kaist), is modelled after the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (Korea Kaist).

Kenya Kaist is set to admit its first batch of Masters and PhD students in three faculties —Mechanical, Electrical and ICT Engineering, Chemical Civil and Agriculture Engineering/Biotechnology, and Basic Science Education in 2021.

Visiting Kaist global president Sung-Chul Shin said the facility will train students on industry-specific courses enabling Kenya and the East African region to develop adequate manpower that will provide technological solutions locally.

“Kenya Kaist will be an action-oriented study centre for industry scientific research that uses technology to improve society,” he said when he delivered a public lecture at the University of Nairobi’s Taifa Hall.

Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA) chairman Reuben Mutiso said preparation for architectural designs of the institution and curriculum development had been commissioned.
KoTDA chief executive John Tanui said Kenya Kaist will help curb the brain-drain menace blamed on sending students to foreign universities for further training only for them to take up jobs abroad.

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“Supply of highly skilled engineers does not match demand as most have left for greener pastures abroad. We need such to upgrade skills and equip Kenyans with new knowledge that meets both traditional and emerging areas of industrial and technical development,” said the CEO.

Mr Tanui said that infrastructure development was set for completion within the next 42 months which will see the building of headquarters and residential houses as well as water, electricity and sewer lines connected to the facility.

“Kenya is spending Sh40 billion to make Konza investor-ready as requested by global tech companies which plan to put up campuses to host research labs and manufacturing units.”

eThekwini to host international mathematics competition

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eThekwini to host international mathematics competition

Staff Reporter

The eThekwini Municipality is set to host an international mathematics competition which will see about 600 children from 35 countries from around the world gathered in Durban to compete in August.

In a statement, the municipality said this was in line with the key priorities of the city’s integrated development plan (IDP) to empower and inspire young people to take mathematics seriously.

Chairperson of the government and human resources committee, Barbara Fortein said the competition will promote the city as a top international tourism destination and the country as a whole.

“A mathematically proficient population will contribute to the country’s economic prosperity. We want to create an academic atmosphere to motivate educators and learners to improve teaching and learning of mathematics with emphasis on developing a higher order of thinking skills,” said Fortein.

“Hosting the competition will support mathematics educators from previously disadvantaged primary schools and aid the development of mathematics in rural and disadvantaged areas.”

Alluding to the new growth path, she said the city encourages accelerated efforts in ensuring that the skills base of youth was raised through education and training programmes. She said the compettion will assist to establish international cooperation in the field of teaching and learning of mathematics.

African News Agency (ANA)

Mindset must change – economist

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Mindset must change – economist

Mphathi Nxumalo

An economist has warned that while the number of people employed has increased, South Africans still need a mindset change in seeking employment.

Professor Bonke Dumisa said the problem was that South Africans were job seekers and that there was not enough entrepreneurship.

He was speaking after Statistics SA released employment figures this week which found that the number of employed people had increased by 149 000 to 16.5 million in the fourth quarter of last year.

Unemployment decreased from 27.5% to 27.1%.

The figures also showed that there was an increase of 70 000 people not economically active which contributed to an overall figure of 108 000 who had become discouraged job seekers.

KwaZulu-Natal saw a 2.6 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate in last year’s fourth quarter, October to December.

This was an increase from the third quarter.

The unemployment rate in the province was at 25.6% last quarter. KZN and the Eastern Cape were the only provinces that had a growth in unemployment rates.

“The government’s job is not to create jobs,” said Dumisa.

“The government’s job is to create an environment where businesses can thrive. People should not be fooled by political parties which promise jobs in their election manifestos, as this is not the job of government, and the parties will blame each other when they are not able to deliver on their promises.”

He felt a mindset change was needed from a job-seeking one to an entrepreneurial one.

“This requires the education system to change,” Dumisa said.

He also pointed to the entrepreneurial spirit of foreigners who were able to spot opportunities, start their own business in South Africa, and provide professional services.

“It is wrong of South Africans to complain that foreigners are taking their jobs, whereas it was the locals who were not able to identify opportunities that foreigners were able to see.”

Daily News

Anger as Valley Primary School ‘sex pest’ granted bail

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Anger as Valley Primary School ‘sex pest’ granted bail

James Mahlokwane

Gauteng MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi and parents of pupils who were allegedly sexually assaulted by an educator at Valhalla Primary School were disappointed yesterday when the man was granted R8000 bail.

As part of the bail conditions, the teacher may not enter Valhalla, in Centurion, nor influence witnesses, pupils or teachers directly or indirectly. He was also ordered to hand over his passport to police.

The parents walked out of the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court angrily, saying the judgment was unfair to the pupils.

It is allegedly that the teacher had been inappropriately touching the pupils since June last year.

#NotInMyName activists and politicians from the ANC Women’s League and the EFF tried to comfort the parents, who said the court had failed to recognise the seriousness of the allegations.

The court ruled that it was in the interest of justice that the educator be granted bail for the duration of trial.

This was despite heavy objections to bail by prosecutor Sanet Jacobson, investigating officer captain Johannes Mkhondo and a group of anti-crime activists and fellow teachers who submitted a petition.

Magistrate Desire Stigling said although the court took into account the arguments against bail, there was no evidence to suggest that the educator was going to be a danger to pupils at the school or in society.

She said the State did not present evidence to the court to suggest that the educator was going to influence State witnesses or interfere with ongoing police investigations.

However, Lesufi said it was not right. “But we remain very hopeful that the matter will be appropriately investigated. We have been here before and we recall that case against a patroller in Soweto.

“We’ve learnt from the mistakes we made there so we just have to ensure that the law enforcement agencies and the justice system really utilise the evidence to deal with this matter.

“To have (at least) 20 children who claim that they’ve been assaulted or sexually molested, to us is not a minor thing, but a serious matter. We received information that there might be other parents willing to add their voices on this matter. We will work with them and bring this matter to the attention of the investigating officer.”

Lesufi said parents and teachers should be strong for the sake of the pupils and not be discouraged by the bail judgment.

The department was hopeful and confident of a conviction in this case, he said.

#NotInMyName general-secretary Themba Masango and EFF regional treasurer Obakeng Ramabodu said they were extremely disappointed that the accused received bail for such serious allegations.

They promised to tail the case and mobilise members of their organisations to rally behind the victims and the parents.

Mom upset after #SansSouci pupil’s suspension is upheld at hearing

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Mom upset after #SansSouci pupil’s suspension is upheld at hearing

Staff Reporter 

While the suspension of the Sans Souci Girls’ High School pupil who was slapped by a teacher in a video that went viral has been upheld, the fate of the teacher, who was also suspended, is still not known.

The duo’s disciplinary hearings were held on Thursday. The Chamber of Legal Students (CLS) representatives took on the Grade 9 pupil’s case because they felt the school had treated her unfairly from the onset.

In the video, the pupil can be seen shoving the teacher, who retaliates by slapping the teenager across the face.

Yolisa Nocanda, chair of the CLS, had expressed concern about the pupil’s case on  Cape Talk beforehand. “The learner hasn’t been afforded an opportunity to sit with a counsellor for the trauma she went through.

“She was not given sufficient learning material to catch up with her studies while she was at home, so Sans Souci has already messed up the case before it started.”

The pupil’s mother concurs. After her daughter’s hearing she addressed a crowd that had gathered outside, News24 reported.

“They (Sans Souci) never cared about my daughter. They never consulted her. They don’t care. The suspension of my daughter continues,” she said.

She said the principal called her aside before the hearing and “advised” her to take her daughter to another school.

On Thursday night, she did not want to speak to the media because she was “very emotional” because “my daughter was not given a fair chance”.

“The Constitution provides that every child has a right to education, but this school is depriving my child of an education,” she said.

Nocanda indicated that they had sent an email to the school before the hearing, requesting all relevant evidence that is going to be presented.

“One of the charges is violating the right of other learners to receive an education. Intimidation by verbal and physical threat to harm a person,” she said.

The other charges the girl faced were ignoring or failing to carry out specific instructions; actions which bring the school’s name into disrepute; violating the rights of other learners to receive education by disrupting classes, preventing teachers from teaching; and violating the rights of the teacher to carry out their task to the detriment of the school, staff, teacher and fellow learners.

Outside the school premises, a small group of supporters, mainly dressed in EFF regalia, defended the pupil and held placards which read, “No to child abuse”.

Chief executive of the South African Teachers Union Chris Klopper told the Cape Times on Wednesday they had spoken to the teacher and will assist her in the process.

“We had a long interview with her and we came to the understanding that she is upset and uncertain of what may emanate from the process, and that is understandable because it is a serious incident and it is all over the news and social media.

“She is our member and we will do what we need to do, as we would with any other member. We have to give her what is due to her. We have appointed an astute senior counsel, as well as an external lawyer to deal with the matter.”

He said they believe both the teacher and the pupil could have acted differently in the situation.

Cape Times

Nehawu shuts down Tshwane colleges

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Nehawu shuts down Tshwane colleges

Goitsemang Tlhabye

Even in the pouring rain staff members affiliated to the National Education Health and Allied Worker’s Union (Nehawu) kept to their word to go ahead with the national shut down of all TVET and CET colleges.

The trade unions’ members protested in small groups at the entrances of their respective colleges around the city, with some seated in their cars parked around entrances.

The national shutdown was announced by union spokesperson, Khaya Xaba, as they were of the view worker’s rights and demands were not being taken seriously by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).

Alpheus Lebello, staff representative at Tshwane North College, Soshanguve campus, said all staff from lecturers, cleaners and administrative members were taking part in the national shutdown as all members were fed up with the unfair treatment meted out to them.

Lebello said members were tired of watching their employers, the colleges and DHET, simply choosing to ignore their problems.

He said workers who had worked for well over 10 years were denied service benefits.

Workers, according to Lebello constantly faced abuse from college CEOs and, or principals who had been given too much power by the department.

Enabling them to take full control and as a result were able to hire and fire staff “left, right and centre,” without any fear of reprisal.

“Principals and campus managers are colluding to put pressure on workers and threaten us on a daily basis.”

“We know in our own campus of seven lecturers who were dismissed between 2016 and 2017, for simply speaking up for workers rights.”

Pandor’s ‘arrogance’ the reason for the shutdown of universities

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Pandor’s ‘arrogance’ the reason for the shutdown of universities
Msindisi Fengu and Zamayirha Peter

Higher Education and Training Minister Naledi Pandor’s “arrogance” has been blamed for calls for the national shutdown of universities.

This is what student leaders told City Press on Friday amid uncertainty over whether their demands would materialise.

A meeting was scheduled to take place between the SA Union of Students (Saus) and Pandor in Pretoria yesterday to broker a deal and find a resolution to challenges in the higher education sector.

On Monday Pandor released a statement which, in part, urged student organisations to “focus on real student concerns and to make every effort to resolve problems without impacting on the academic programme”.

This was at the height of student unrest at Durban University of Technology (DUT), the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the Mangosuthu University of Technology.

Some of the issues students protested against were related to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas).

“Her statement triggered students as she showed her arrogance by saying student demands were not serious. The death of DUT student [Mlungisi Madonsela] made the situation worse than it was,” said a source.

Saus spokesperson Thabo Shingange confirmed that students were angry with Pandor.

“The national shutdown is a response to the minister’s statement. We will continue with the shutdown until she retracts her statement and apologises,” Shingange said.

Pandor declined to comment.

Naledi Pandor

 

“The minister has humbly requested not to comment on these allegations until she has met Saus,” Pandor’s spokesperson, Lunga Ngqengelele, said on Friday.

Shingange said students would not stop protesting until their demands, which included universities dropping the suspension of student leaders, were met.

Other demands included finding a solution for accumulating student debts and scrapping the financial exclusion of students on registration; addressing the crisis of a lack of student accommodation; appealing for Nsfas to fund students who had been rejected even though they qualified; resolving confusion about Nsfas allowances; and providing government funding for postgraduate students.

Professor Ahmed Bawa, chief executive officer of Universities SA, an organisation representing 26 vice-chancellors, said on Thursday that none of the universities had decided to shut down but some “instead suspended activities for short periods to reduce risk to students, staff and damage to infrastructure”.

Bawa said members were deeply concerned about the events at DUT. He said they were also concerned that the so-called missing middle students, who were not covered by fee-free higher education because their household income totalled more than R350 000, were trapped without any systems in place to help them.

“We would like to suggest the need for another national conversation to address this issue,” he said.

Bawa said universities were in a precarious financial condition.

“If they are to be expected to do high-quality teaching, learning and research, then it has to be understood that universities can work only within the funding system that exists.”

Bawa said the fee-free education was working well for those who qualified.

But the challenges experienced related to those who did not qualify.

Students began protesting at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) and the University of Johannesburg (UJ).

Read: ‘The minister can’t relate to the poor:Students continue varsity protests

At Wits on Friday there was confusion about allegations that the student representative council president, Sisanda Mbolekwa, and the deputy president, Nkateko Muloiwa, were suspended following a hunger strike staged over demands that the university register returning students who owed R100 000 and less.

The two student leaders told City Press that they had been suspended. However, this was denied by Wits spokesperson Buhle Zuma.

On Wednesday students at UJ protested over similar issues but their demonstrations were quickly quashed by police.

UJ spokesperson Herman Esterhuizen said a handful of students held sporadic demonstrations across their campuses calling for a shutdown of operations.

“The university has implemented heightened security measures to ensure the safety of staff and other students, as well as university property. Academic programmes and administrative activities continue,” Esterhuizen said.

DUT announced on Friday that it would reopen the university tomorrow following a deal with students to allow registration and other administrative activities to resume. Academic activities were still suspended.

City Press

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