20 February 2017 | News
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Intervarsity News CHAD JOHNSTON University of Stellenbosch The University of Stellenbosch has revised its admissions policy for 2018. The university released a statement over the weekend in which it was stated that the university “recognises the need to reserve places for socio-economically disadvantaged students, regardless of racial classification”. The policy aims to admit students who meet the minimum requirements for a particular course but would otherwise not be admitted to the course of their preference. According to the statement “the long-term objective of the policy is to contribute to a non-racial and equal society no longer requiring race-based redress” Tshwane University of Technology TUT’s Pretoria campus was shut down on 15 February due to overnight protests. TUT management confirmed to EWN that students started several fires. However, management could not disclose the extent of the damage or how many buildings were affected. According to another article published by EWN, students demanded that the university lease nearby buildings and subsidise food. Students warned that disruptions would continue, should their demands not be met. Rhodes University
Rhodes University hosted a media briefing in Port Elizabeth on 14 February as the university prepared to open for the academic year. “The recent #FeesMustFall protests have brought to the fore the unequal distribution of resources in our society. This is a recipe for instability. We cannot continue to be indifferent to the plight of the poor in our society,” said Dr Sizwe Mabizela, Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes University. Mabizela also touched on the issue of free education saying, “… in the short to medium term, we believe that free education should be provided to poor and academically deserving students. We must devise financially sustainable mechanisms to fund the missing middle. These are the children of civil servants; they are so heavily indebted that they cannot even access loans to finance their children’s education. It is critical that the government find ways to assist these children to access education. Government should prioritise funding for the higher education system”. Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University NMMU have condemned an alleged arson attack which occurred on 11 February. A petrol bomb was thrown at a building on the south campus and students allegedly threw stones at several windows. ‘Fees Must Fall’ was also spray-painted on the walls.
Proposed new centre for visual impairment studies DANICA CHARLES The Department of Higher Education and Training has recently received a support grant from the European Union, a portion of which is being used to fund the University of Pretoria. The R9 952 000 grant allocated to UP will be used by the Faculty of Education’s Department of Educational Psychology, to launch a Centre for Visual Impairment Studies, which they will use to develop a teaching qualification specifically for students who are visually impaired. The Head of the Department of Educational Psychology, Professor Ronél Ferreira, will lead the project and will be supported by Dr Maximus Sefotho, a lecturer in the education department. Dr Ruth Mampane of the Department of Educational Psychology, Maria Ramaahlo from UP’s Disability Unit, and Professor Juan Bornman. who is the director of the Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication
will also be assisting with the project. The programme will be established in association with stakeholders such as NGOs and community-based organisations that have knowledge of visual impairment. The team will implement a “participatory research approach” to assist in obtaining standardised data according to the needs and expectations of teachers in mainstream and specialised schools for the visually impaired or blind students. The information that this approach follows will regulate the content of the modules that need to be designed. Thereafter, these modules will be tested and modified where needed. The programme will include contact and online modules as well as distance learning to enable specialist teachers in South Africa and neighbouring countries to have access to the qualification’s material. The project managersanticipate that the proposed qualification will be ready for the first intake of students by 2020.
Perdeby Writing Lab Perdeby will be launching a six-week writing program, commencing in the week of 27 February. The writing course will aim to teach students basic English writing skills, such as the importance of plain English, the use of plain English for second-language English readers, sentence structure, grammar, and how to write an article. The writing lab will run several times a year, and for the pilot course, only 20 applicants will be accepted. The writing lab is targeted at students who do not speak English as their first language, and aims to develop the language skills of these students so that they will be able to write for, and contribute to Perdeby and other publications, with more confidence. Students who complete the programme will receive preference when applying for Perdeby in the future, however, those that participate in the writing lab will not be obliged to work at Perdeby following the completion of the course. “In addition to our role of informing and
entertaining, we have always focussed on the development of our student journalists. We now have the opportunity to extend this development to any student who wants to improve their writing skills,” says Perdeby Editor-in-Chief Carel Willemse. Perdeby Editor Huvasan Reddy said, “We often find ourselves having to turn away enthusiastic applicants who are second language English speakers, because they lack the confidence and necessary skills to write in English, compared to those who speak English as their home language. The writing lab offers us an opportunity to implement transformation at a grassroots level at Perdeby. In a high-paced print publication environment, it’s difficult to train new staff in basic English skills. The writing lab will give us the opportunity to help students develop their basic English skills, so that they will be able to contribute to Perdeby and cope in this fast-paced environment.” The application form can be found on page 11
South Campus Kiosk is up and running
For World Famous Jaff les Now moved to building nr 5 South Campus opposite main campus