Extension of Allowances
SASCO wishes to welcome the extension of living allowances for student’s who’s academic year for 2020 has been delayed due to COVID-19. This comes as per one of our demands following the unprecedented Gazette by the minister on the question of allowances, as we welcome this progressive decision to extend the living allowances we are however worried that no decisive decision has been taken towards the Private Landlords. We wish to implore on the University management to ensure that no student will be evicted and we will be closely monitoring December and January to ensure this doesn’t happen.
Gadgets:
We wish to welcome the announcement which gives confidence that the “One Student One Laptop” call will be realised. We have long waited for this day and we wish to caution government that come the beginning of the 2021 Academic year we want all students to register and receive their laptops with no further delays.
Blended multimodal , as well as digital learning has become part of student lives, it is no longer a program of the future, considering that some institutions academic year will end in February 2021, it is only fair that we put pressure on the department to form this Task team this year in preparation for the academic year of 2021, the minister has given us no clear timeline or shows the urgency of this matter as we have seen how blended learning has affected students in universities and Tvet collages. As the student vanguard we want to make sure that we hold this Task Team and the department accountable come the Right to Learn campaign next year across all provinces and all institutions of higher learning to ensure that no student is left behind as the future is uncertain in these conditions of COVID-19.
N+2 & Appeals:
As we applaud NSFAS for reviewing and resolving almost 70% of the N+2 appeals as this is one thing which has frustrated and left of students despondent. This matter must never again be used as measures to exclude poor students especially when they have valid reasons for their academic delays.
On Gender-Based Violence
SASCO has made its call for safety and security in our campuses and we continue to do so. We note the strides made by the Department to formulate a task team that will bring solutions to the problems we face in our campuses. However, numbers and cases are not going down students are still at risk and fall victim of human trafficking and violence in residences and on campus, we want to extend the call for safety to all institutions of higher learning to not only raise awareness but also ensure that the students that are on campus and those that will come back when the academic year of 2021 commences these measures are put in place.
Fee Increments
SASCO is disappointed again that DHET continues to approve and further increase the exorbitant fees of institutions. It has been the long standing view of SASCO that fees are currently high and need to be reviewed before a decision is taken on any increment. The COVID-19 Pandemic has further placed many households under economic distress and the fee increment will perpetuates that distress. SASCO calls on University and College councils to reject the proposal from DHET and further review their current fee structure and not increase any fees.
On Appointments
We take this time to applaud the appointment of the Ministerial Infrastructure Advisory Committee especially noting that this is but one of the demands submitted to the State President and DHET during the TVET march of the 14/10/2020. We won’t rest until all our demands are all met.
We are extremely happy with the appointment of the NSFAS board that is inclusive of current and former student leaders. What excites us is the fact that these comrades come with a wealth of knowledge and have an understanding of some of the issues which led to the almost collapse of the institution, and they surely understand what becomes their responsibility and the importance of the institution to the poor and future of this country.
We wish to pass a special congratulatory regards to the former SASCO Treasurer General Cde Jullie Beya, Former SASCO NEC member Cde Sanele Zondi, Former SAFETSA President Cde Yonke Twani and to the current SASCO President Cde Bamanye Matiwane.
SRC Elections
We wish to express our gratitude to the student populace that continues to entrust SASCO and its deployees by ensuring that they #VoteSASCO. We are aware that we have registered a defeat on two institutions and we wish to say that our volunteers must not despair nor be discouraged by these outcomes but must continue to service the students.
We urge students of MUT, UNIZULU, UWC, WSU and UFS that they must #VoteSASCO bangazinc’ishi SASCO.
We wish to congratulate all students who have completed their qualifications and wish them well on their future endeavours. We also wish the best for all those who are yet to write their final examinations for the academic year 2020.
Issued by SASCO NEC
Bamanye Matiwane
President
Buthanani Thobela
Secretary General
073 257 5677
For Enquiries:
Luvuyo Barnes
Media and Communication Liaison
079 393 7131
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