Pretoria - The Foundation for Education and Social Justice Africa has asked the chief of staff in the Department of Higher Education for an urgent meeting to discuss the issue of academic and financial exclusions in the terrain of education, to make sure that students are able to continue with their studies.
The organisation said the poor performance of many students meant they faced possible exclusions and could join the unemployment queue.
It added that some students owed universities large sums of money, which they might not be able to settle before registrations.
This could lead to exclusion in the 2023 academic year, even if some students had done well academically.
Hendrick Makaneta, education activist and deputy chairperson of the foundation, said students needed ongoing support.
“There are students who really need to be assisted because they studied online during Covid-19, so emerging from online learning to physically attending classes affected them in a way that they failed dismally ... which led to most of them being financially and academically excluded.”
Pass statistics in higher education dropped from 2020 to 2022, he said.
“The statistics tell you that the drop in the pass rate during 2022 means that students were somehow doing better during Covid-19, and that is why we are calling on the minister (Blade Nzimande) to intervene.
“Some students from the University of Pretoria, UCT and others have failed dismally, according to the statistics … many were excluded academically, which is why we want to plead with the minister to overlook the situation and make arrangements for these particular students who enrolled in 2020 during Covid-19.
“This group of students was used to online teaching and learning and some of them have never been on campus because during that time everyone had to be at home.
“Three years later they had to move from online to come to the university and be able to attend regularly, so the environment was different from what they were used to.
“It was a huge transition for them, which led to the drop in these students’ pass rate,” said Makaneta.
He said that academic and financial exclusion affected students differently.
“There are those who end up devastated as they are the only ones in their families who have gone to university and their families are looking to them to at least get a qualification (so they can) escape the poverty trap.
“Student debt continues to be a problem and it has affected many, but the office of the higher education minister has the power to settle the fees, so we call on the minister and his deputy to intervene to ensure that students are cleared and can continue with their studies.”
The department did not respond to the invitation to meet, but acknowledged the concerns raised.
Pretoria News