No more Rocking The Daisies concessions for UCT students
5 October 2017
Cape Town – Concessions to University of Cape Town (UCT) students to miss tests or assignments for entertainment events will not be allowed in the future, the university’s faculty of humanities said on Wednesday afternoon.
"It is the view of the faculty executive that the pre-paid purchase of goods or services for entertainment events in itself does not constitute good cause," Acting Dean Harry Garuba said in a statement.
"All course conveners are therefore advised to immediately review and if necessary retract all such concessions to ensure that they comply with university policy in this regard, and to notify students appropriately."
A decision by Dr Tom Angier to allow students to miss a Philosophy test as long as they could prove they had booked their tickets for the annual Rocking the Daisies "well in advance" caused an uproar over apparent inconsistencies in granting concessions.
'Racialised privilege'
On Wednesday morning, the university said the decision should be reviewed.
A subsequent decision by the university’s Senate Executive Committee (SEC) stipulated that faculties should urgently meet to develop a set of criteria for when students can be allowed to miss a test.
The decision was based on a resolution adopted by the SEC that attendance at a music event does not amount to "good cause" for an academic concession and Angier's decision "raised concerns about fairness, consistency and equity across the system".
The UCT Black Academic Caucus (BAC) previously said that racialised class disparities were highlighted by the concession.
"It's not enough that black students have to silently carry the burden of disadvantage, or think twice before approaching some of their white lecturers when they are in distress; they now even have to watch as racialised privilege paraded before them," the organisation said.
On Facebook, one UCT student said the concession was a "joke" as Muslim students had to write exams during Eid.
