The Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) will next week go to Senate to propose the adjustment of the academic calendar to compensate for the five days lost during the period of mourning the death of a student a week ago.
On Monday, the university suspended academic activities for the rest of the week to mourn the death of law student Katlego Andries Monareng who will be buried on Saturday in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga.
Professor Stanley Mukhola, the deputy vice-chancellor of teaching, learning and technology, said on Tuesday the mourning period will result in the loss of valuable learning and teaching time, saying this had to be mitigated.
“This [Tuesday] morning we met with the executive deans to map a way forward on how we can salvage the time that we are losing this week. If you lose five days, it means our academic calendar is affected, so we decided that we are going to Senate on Monday to propose the shifting of our core calendar,” said Mukhola.
TUT mulls changes to academic calendar
The Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) will next week go to Senate to propose the adjustment of the academic calendar to compensate for the five days lost during the period of mourning the death of a student a week ago.
On Monday, the university suspended academic activities for the rest of the week to mourn the death of law student Katlego Andries Monareng who will be buried on Saturday in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga.
Professor Stanley Mukhola, the deputy vice-chancellor of teaching, learning and technology, said on Tuesday the mourning period will result in the loss of valuable learning and teaching time, saying this had to be mitigated.
“This [Tuesday] morning we met with the executive deans to map a way forward on how we can salvage the time that we are losing this week. If you lose five days, it means our academic calendar is affected, so we decided that we are going to Senate on Monday to propose the shifting of our core calendar,” said Mukhola.
Mukhola said the exams that were scheduled to begin on November 5 will be moved to November 12, noting this will also affect what is referred to as "predicate day" where students verify whether their academic projects have been captured correctly before they start writing exams.
The "predicate day" will will be rescheduled for November 5.
“This is to ensure that students do not lose days of teaching. This is why the exams have been rescheduled to capture the five days that we have actually lost. In between we agreed to a possibility of also doing the Saturday catch-up days,” Mukhola said, adding they also discussed a possibility of using the coming university recess to assist students that will be doing their practical work. “In short, this is how we are going to salvage the days lost during the mourning period."
Vice-chancellor and principal, Professor Lourens van Staden, said the university will hold a memorial service for Monareng on Thursday, noting that TUT will also support the family during this trying time. Monareng was shot dead during the unrest that followed the SRC elections, allegedly by the police. Students claimed that the elections were rigged and fraudulent.