#OpenOurUniversities: Making up lost campus time will cost students thousands
29 September 2016
The closure of nearly all of our Universities has many disadvantages. It will lead to a decline in University standing, financial pressure on University budgets, massive inconvenience and possibly loss of employment opportunities for students about to graduate, loss of teaching time and many other things.
But perhaps the most tragic of these disadvantages is the sheer economic cost for the students themselves resulting from the need to make up lost time. And of course the poorest students will be most disadvantaged by this.
Universities have said that if they do not resume normal operations next week, they run the risk of not being able to complete the academic year and would have to extend the end of the university year or start earlier in January to ensure they can finish the required work. This will have knock-on cost implications for both universities and students.
The DA’s own research into living costs at UCT, Wits, UKZN and Fort Hare shows that students could pay up to an additional R7 000 per month for accommodation, food and travel if universities were forced to extend their academic term.
UCT proved to have the highest living costs. A student who stays in a residence at this university would have to fork out more than R4 800, while a student who stays off-campus would have to pay up to R7 000 for accommodation, food and travel.
When the average over all universities is taken into account, a student staying off-campus would need an additional R6 590 to fund an extra month, while a resident student would need R3 980.
Further knock-on costs such as traveling home and back to university by bus or plane, traveling back for rescheduled graduation ceremonies, or postponing starting accepted jobs, have not been included.
None of these costs would have been budgeted for by students or their families. The extra cost will place an undue burden on those students who are already struggling to cover their living expenses.
Universities will also incur further costs such as keeping residences open, paying cleaning and cooking staff for this, as well as paying increased electricity and water bills.
Closing university campuses and thus postponing teaching, learning, examining and graduating will all have a significant impact on students, especially poorer students living off-campus.
This is why the DA once again calls on all South Africans to sign our online petition, which demands that our universities are re-opened.
Those who want to learn should have their constitutional rights respected. The truth is that a small group of students, bent on destruction and violence, are determined to keep our campuses shut. Their threats and intimidation have forced management to keep Wits, UCT and many others closed this week, in the crucial period leading up to exams. Just yesterday, the University of Limpopo indefinitely suspended all academic activities, and shut-down residences. This has left poor students with nowhere to go.
The DA shares the anger and frustration which so many young people are feeling around South Africa today, almost all of whom are not involved in the campus shut-downs. With rising unemployment, fewer job opportunities, and completely inadequate funding, many young people are losing hope. This needs to be addressed urgently in the short and long term.
However, shutting down our university campuses is not the answer.
The real blame must be placed at the door of the ANC government which has allowed this crisis to take root, by under-funding our universities and forgetting about poor students. The DA will continue with its fight to ensure the ANC is held responsible for the mess it created, and that more funding is made available so that no person is denied an education simply because they are poor.
Issued by Belinda Bozzoli, DA Shadow Minister of Higher Education and Training, 29 September 2016
