University of Johannesburg goes extra mile to help disabled students

South Africa celebrates National Disability Rights Awareness Month annually between 3 November and 3 December. 

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) provides support for students with disabilities on its campuses through its Disability Unit (DU) and partnering with various organisations, such as The Sweetheart Foundation.

UJ does this to empower disabled students “to be as independent as possible thus preparing them for the world of work,” team leader of psychological services at the DU Leila Abdool Gafoor said in a recent interview.

Campus assistance: University of Johannesburg Disability Unit

The DU’s services cater to students with all sorts of disabilities ranging from physical to mental impairments.

“We offer support for all types of disabilities, physical, neurological emotional and learning disorders,” explained Gafoor.

Education is one of the main themes of this National Disability Rights Awareness Month and Gafoor said that university life forms an important part of young people’s emotional development.

“At this stage of their lives, students are discovering who they are and are finding their identities.

“The psychological well-being of those who are physically challenged is very important,” she added.

Disability ambassadors and campaigns

According to Gafoor, the university has put in place systems to support students with disabilities on its campuses, including psycho-educational campaigns and disability ambassadors.

“We have disability ambassadors who are identified by pink berets who are trained in assisting people with disabilities at UJ.

“These are students and staff who volunteered to represent the Disability Unit.”

Sweethearts Foundation wheelchairs

The DU was rewarded with two wheelchairs from the Sweethearts Foundation in August for its participation in the foundation’s Tops and Tags recycling project involving the collection of bottle tops.

The university collected 900kg of bottle tops for the recycling project.

The DU first participated in the recycling project in 2018 with the aim of making more wheelchairs available for physically disabled students and has maintained a good relationship with the foundation since.

“They do incredible work and we are proud to be associated with them,” said Gafoor.

People who are interested in contributing bottle tops to the project on behalf of the UJ for more wheelchairs in the future, can contact Gafoor at leilaag@uj.ac.za.

Gafoor also encouraged prospective students with disabilities to visit the University of Johannesburg’s website or contact its Disability Unit at disabilityunit@uj.ac.za for more information.