Over 8 000 Wits students facing academic exclusion – SRC

The University of Witwatersrand’s Student Representative Council (SRC) has expressed concern over mounting student debt at the institution, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Wits SRC, 8 412 students are at risk of not returning, due to the fact that they can’t afford to pay fees.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many lives, livelihoods, families and businesses – and the students of the University of Witwatersrand have been no exception. Students have lost bursaries as many of these companies have closed, parents have lost employment and are therefore unable to pay fees. The majority of the 8 412 students are black and from working class families,” SRC president Mpendulo Mfeka said.

He said despite the obvious challenges spurred by the pandemic, Wits management has failed to respond adequately to students’ needs. Mfeka added that the fees for 2021 were increased despite the fact the students were not on campus for the majority of 2020.

Wits is considered one of the continent’s top-tier learning institutions, offering top quality education – with that comes the hefty fees. An undergraduate qualification at the university can cost anywhere between R42 000 and R100 000 a year. That’s excluding other necessities like stationery.

Wits: Not as many students will be excluded

Wits University was quick to respond to the SRC’s claims. The institution did not deny the extent of the crisis facing some students, but said the figure of 8 412 would likely go down in the next week or so.

“Yes, it is a very concerning situation and we are aware of the impact of the pandemic. We have indeed suffered some losses too both in terms of our overall budget and in terms of how it has affected our staff,” Wits University’s Dean of Student Affairs Jerome Septmber said in an interview with eNCA.

September said while 8 000 students currently owe the institution, some of them are actually funded.

“So we have some bursaries that are paying out and there are some NSFAS issues that are being resolved and so we think that number will come down quite significantly over the next week of two. But of course, the SRC is right”

About 27,000 of the university’s 37,500 scholas are on some form of financial aid, scholarship or bursary.