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STAFF REPORTER |
THE University of Cape Town (UCT) has announced on Tuesday that students with outstanding debt can register for the 2022 academic year.
This is after the university’s council decided to lift the fee blocks for all students who are eligible to re-register on academic grounds.
“Following the UCT Council meeting on Monday,21 February, Council called on the leadership of UCT to put in place a working group, to coordinate and facilitate the process of registering students who are able to continue their studies due to Council’s decision to lift fee blocks,” said the UCT council chairperson Babalwa Ngonyama.
Earlier this month, the Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, Dr Blade Nzimande reported that R16.5 billion was owed by students to public universities in South Africa.
The cumulative fee debt at the UCT currently stands at R317.8 million.
“At the same time, we provide financial support every year to about 50% of our undergraduate students and about 35% of our postgraduate students. For the 2021 academic year, this financial support amounted to approximately R1.7 billion,” said Ngonyama.
Ngonyama said that some student’s council agreed to suspend the block on students re-registering for the 2021 academic year.
She further added that the suspension was for one year only and, for the 2022 academic year, students with fee arrears of more than R10 000 have so far not been permitted to register, subject to appeal.
“We also know that there are students with fee debt higher than R10 000 who have the potential to complete their courses of study. The special meeting of Council was called to consider the plight of these students,” she said.
The outcomes of Council’s deliberations resulted in the following decision:
1. The current fee block on student registrations should be removed for the 2022 academic year for all students who are eligible to re-register on academic grounds. This concession will apply to students who are South African citizens, South African Permanent Residents, from SADC countries and from other countries in Africa. It will not apply to students registered for courses at the Graduate School of Business (GSB), or who are international students from continents other than Africa.
2. The university executive will review current financial aid and fees policies, to develop proposals for reform that will align with Vision 2030 with the objective of ensuring that allocation of financial assistance is aligned with demonstrable financial need.
Proposals will be brought to Council for consideration in time for implementation for the 2023 academic year.
3. The Students’ Representative Council (SRC) will be invited to take part in a joint working group with university management, to ensure that students who will benefit from the additional fee block concessions for 2022 can complete their registrations as rapidly as possible, so that their academic progress is not compromised.
-Inside Education