While most students have been hard at work at tertiary institutions, learners at Mnambithi FET College – Estcourt campus have been waiting aimlessly for lectures to begin.
According to the Student Representative Council Chairman Khumbu Tshabalala classrooms are empty since the start of the term on January 22.
Apparently this stems from the termination of 18 lecturer’s contracts last year. Some have been re-employed but according to Mr Tshabalala some lecturers have decided to strike, leaving students in the lurch.
“We have heard that there is no teaching at three of the FET campuses. The lecturers come in, sign the register and sit. There is no learning or teaching, no textbooks or classes. It is worse for the new students,” he commented. The students marched around the campus on Tuesday before coming to a stop in front of a classroom that some lecturers were seated in, this prompted the lecturers to vacate the room.
A spokesperson for the college could not be reached via phone or email for a comment.