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Students struggle with exams deferred because of Fees Must Fall protests

Picture credit: DARRYL HAMMOND
Picture credit: DARRYL HAMMOND

As universities across the country prepare for the influx of new first-year students‚ some universities still need to finalise deferred and supplementary exams.

Some students at the University of the Witwatersrand have said that they have not been afforded the same access to lecturers and facilities as students who wrote their exams in November last year.

Following student protests over several months‚ Wits last year allowed students who didn’t feel ready to defer exams to January.

Zamayirha Peter‚ Wits student representative council (SRC) academic officer‚ said she had been inundated with calls from students who have had issues writing deferred or supplementary exams.

“The university opened on the 3rd of January‚ but when students arrived they couldn’t access some facilities such as labs and libraries‚” Peter said.

She said the SRC had been faced with an “accommodation crisis” with students not being able to access residences.

 A third-year BCom accounting sciences student at Wits‚ said on Monday: “People who were on campus during Fees Must Fall and needed access to facilities which weren’t available during the normal hours are most affected.”

The student‚ who was afraid to have her name published because she still had exams to write‚ said she was currently staying with family in Pretoria because of additional residence costs‚ and was commuting to Johannesburg to write and access library facilities.

“So‚ for students like myself‚ I really feel we’re not getting the same support from the university as other students have‚” she said.

A final-year public governance and management student at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) said she felt the university could have provided students who wrote supplementary exams with more support and communication about the exams.

“Even our online portal has been on and then off. It’s a struggle being in your final year. I can’t imagine how a first year will deal with this‚” she said.

Wits university spokesperson Buhle Zuma said: “Students have access to libraries‚ computer laboratories and other additional resources. The university officially opened on January 3‚ 2017. Students who need to consult academic staff should arrange in advance for this assistance.

“Our libraries were open on January 3 and closed at the traditional time which applies at this period of the year (5pm).”

Zuma said students had access to 24-hour study rooms and should “empower themselves with information and plan in advance for their studies”.

UJ spokesperson Herman Esterhuizen said supplementary exams would be running until January 13.

Students at the University of Cape Town will write deferred exams between January 23 and February 10‚ while students at all the North West University campuses and the University of Pretoria had completed all deferred and supplementary exams. – TMG Digital/The Times

 

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