Academic activities have ground to a halt for students at Flavius Mareka TVET college in Kroonstad, as students are protesting outside their campus for what they call NSFAS financial exclusions and other student challenges.
Some of the students who qualified for the 2021 NSFAS financial year managed to register for the first semester but are unable to register for the second semester.
The SRC president says that some of the students were evicted by landlords due to non-payment. She also says that efforts to engage with management on the matter failed.
They now vow to fight for qualifying students to be able to finish their academic year:
What we have managed to find out is that all intro students are the most affected, out of which the majority are returning students.These student have progressed. Some of them were evicted by the landlord due to non-rental payment.
The SRC president adds that the students tried to engage NSFAS directly but were told to appeal their applications. In addition to this, she says that this has been an ongoing issue since April and management is yet to come up with a solution.
She says that they will not allow the registration process to continue until the affected students are able to register. She adds that management has said it is waiting for written approval from the department of higher education regarding the funding of these students.
The students are also calling for the amendment of the of College's financial policy, as they feel that it is not inclusive in its current state because the SRC does not form part of its Council.
