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UPDATE: Situation on the Bloemfontein Campus, 23 February 2022

23 February 2022 | Story Lacea Loader

On the morning of 23 February 2022, some of the entrance gates to the Bloemfontein Campus were blocked by groups of protesting students. The gates were cleared by members of Protection Services and traffic could continue to enter and exit the campus.

Sporadic disruption of classes occurred during the course of the day, with several students being arrested by the South African Police Service (SAPS) for disruption of classes, which is contravention of the interdict.

The disruptive behaviour stems from students’ unhappiness with the response to the memorandum handed to the university management by the Bloemfontein Campus Central Student Representative Council (CSRC) on 21 February 2022. Also on 21 February, a memorandum was handed to the management of the Qwaqwa Campus by the campus’ CSRC. The Qwaqwa Campus was temporarily closed yesterday, following violent protest action this week; the date for the reopening of the campus will be communicated in due course.

Today’s disruptive behaviour demonstrated by the group of students on the Bloemfontein Campus is condemned and will not be tolerated.

During this week and on numerous occasions before that, the university management has been in extensive engagements with the CSRCs on both campuses; concessions were made where possible, as was demanded in the two memoranda. However, the responses given, and the concessions made by the university were not accepted by the student leadership of the Bloemfontein Campus CSCR in particular, with more demands being made.

READ: Response to the Bloemfontein Memorandum of Demands Dated 21 February 2022

Concessions from the beginning of 2022:

To ensure that students register successfully for the 2022 academic year, the UFS has granted a number of financial concessions to students since the beginning of the year. The financial support given was specifically intended to fast-track the registration process of students with outstanding debt, and those awaiting confirmation of funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

These concessions included:

Allowing students who have previously registered for foundation programmes and those who have continued with mainstream programmes to register without the prerequisite of a first payment. The provision was granted to students who applied with the N+ rule and whose respective foundation programmes are included in the Department of Higher Education and Training-funded list.
Permitting students with outstanding debt of up to R25 000 and who await NSFAS funding to register provisionally.
The university also allowed conditional registration for first-time entering students, giving those who have applied for NSFAS funding until 28 February 2022 to finalise their registration. First-time entering students, both residential and non-residential, could register conditionally, provided that they pay an amount of R500.

Demands in the two memoranda received from the CSRCs on the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses included matters such as private accommodation; emergency accommodation; catch-up plans for students who have not yet registered; a registration threshold increase to R30 000; NSFAS allowances; and the extension of registration for international students without study permits. The Bloemfontein Campus CSRC did not accept the university’s responses to the memorandum.

The university management will continue engaging with the SRC.

Safety measures in place:

The situation on the Bloemfontein Campus is closely monitored. Protection Services is on high alert and continues to work closely with the SAPS to ensure stability on the campus.

Issued by:
Lacea Loader
Director: Communication and Marketing
University of the Free State
loaderl@ufs.ac.za
23 February 2022

News Archive

State of our campuses: Impact of non-completion of the 2016 academic year on UFS students

2016-10-08

Dear Parents/Guardians and Students,

Impact of non-completion of the 2016 academic year

The University of the Free State (UFS) reiterates its support and commitment to the cause of free higher education. We have stated our position in all the available spaces. We want to work with UFS students to put pressure on the government to commit itself to accept the many suggestions put forward to make free education possible within a negotiated timeframe.

We are also seriously committed to our responsibility of providing education to all students enrolled at the university. We are doing our outmost to ensure that we can resume academic activities next week.

Description: " Academic non-completion 2016 Tags: " Academic non-completion 2016

We want to bring to your attention what will happen to individual students if the UFS cannot resume classes fully on Monday 10 October 2016.

Currently we have extended the academic year by one week. Some faculties are working on Saturdays and Sundays, starting earlier and finishing later to complete the material that needs to be taught and the practical work that students need to do to be able to write exams.

In the three biggest faculties at the university: Education, the Humanities, and Natural Sciences, this is what will happen:

Education will fail to graduate 1 193 students
Humanities will fail to graduate 1 125 students
Natural and Agricultural Sciences will fail to graduate 1 390 students

In the professional faculties: Economic and Management Sciences, Health Sciences, and Law, this will happen:

Economic and Management Sciences will fail to graduate 997 students
Health Sciences will fail to graduate 633 students
Law will fail to graduate 619 students

In total, approximately 6 000 students will not receive complete transcripts of their degrees and the certificates for their qualifications.

The university currently has 3 238 students on NSFAS bursaries. None of these students will be able to apply for bursaries for the lost year. They will be regarded as having failed or not completed their courses. They will not only miss this year, but the opportunity of studying in the future.

These students come from families to which their success in higher education was supposed to mean a change in the future of the entire family. Some parents/guardians hold more than one job to be able to pay tuition fees.

In not allowing the year to continue and students to finish, we are throwing away the efforts that entire families of poor people have made for four or five years to put their children through university. The promise of free education for future generations means nothing to these families who are poor in the present.

In terms of the academic calendar, it is a false argument to say that universities will be able to enrol first-years, because what 2016 students will miss, is the second semester.

We do not have the capacity to teach double the number of students in the second semester. This also misses the point that those students who were completing modules in order to graduate, will waste an entire year (assuming they have funding) to complete their degrees. This argument does not see the knock-on effect that students, not promoting in modules from first to second and second to third year, etc., will have. Finally, this also misses the point of what will happen to students who have to repeat first-semester modules.

In terms of academic staff, students are discounting the willingness of academic staff to teach double or to have the academic year extended by approximately six weeks between teaching and examinations. The same can be said for all the administrative and support staff required for running the university.

In our case, all the students in the University Preparation Programme (UPP) on the South Campus in Bloemfontein will be stuck without being able to move into mainstream modules, preventing a new intake of UPP students for 2017. These are the poorest and most disadvantaged students at the UFS.

It is absolutely necessary to find a means of protest and political action that will not jeopardise the future of current students and the country’s desperate need for critical skills. The interdict against violent protest secured by the UFS is still in force. The police will intervene if the interdict is not respected and the UFS will have no control over police actions.

We trust that parents/guardians and students understand the implications of the situation.

Kind regards,

Prof Nicky Morgan
Acting Rector
University of the Free State

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Brand Management)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

State of our campuses #11: Academic activities on UFS campuses continue

State of our campuses #10: Impact of non-completion of the 2016 academic year on UFS students

State of our campuses #9: Academic programme on all UFS campuses to resume on Monday 10 October 2016

State of our campuses #8: UFS extends vacation as from 28 September until 7 October 2016, 28 September 2016

State of our campuses #7: All three UFS campuses will be closed today, 27 September 2016.

State of our campuses #6: All UFS campuses reopen on Tuesday 27 September 2016

State of our campuses #5: UFS campuses to remain closed on Monday 26 September 2016

State of our campuses #4: Decisions about the UFS academic calendar

State of our campuses #3: UFS campuses closed until Friday 23 September 2016

State of our campuses #2: UFS Bloemfontein and South Campuses closed on Tuesday 20 September 2016 (19 September 2016)

State of our campuses #1: Academic activities suspended on UFS Bloemfontein Campus (19 September 2016)

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