Students at Westcol TVET College, Krugersdorp Campus, protested over study material, allowances, time tables and classes without lecturers.
The students have been boycotting classes for more than two weeks, trying to get management to hear them out and resolve their issues. Akhona Mapasa, who is the leader of the student representative council (SRC) and chairperson of South African Student Congress (SASCO), said all they have been doing is trying to get students back in class with everything resolved.
“We are not shutting down the campus nor breaking anything that belongs to the institution. All we are saying is that we will stand outside the campus until our issues are being addressed. We do not have lecturers, our timetables do not make sense, we do not have textbooks for most of our subjects, and students are struggling to continue with their studies as they have been blocked, because of financial reasons. We call on the management to come and give us answers in order for us to get back into our classes,” Mapasa told the News.
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In Mapasa’s effort to get the cries of students heard, he has received messages from the institution’ s management, summoning him to a meeting.
“When I received a call from the management summoning me to a meeting, my thoughts were that they would suspend me, or maybe I’ll get a disciplinary hearing. Instead of management asking me what we were striking for, they spoke about my behaviour. We are being ignored,” said Mapasa.
Ntendeni Motshinya, another student, said she is expected to write exams in a few weeks, but she doesn’t have any study material. The same sentiments were shared by entrepreneurship student, Lorraine Mudau.
“We are falling behind with our studies; we are frustrated and we keep on hearing that lecturers are being interviewed, but how long will all of that take,” explained Mudau.
The News contacted the management of the institution, and they said they were aware of issues that the students are facing, and declined to give further information about the issue.
