Government moves to end student res 'squalor'

05 October 2015 - 02:09 By Kingdom Mabuza

The Department of Higher Education and Training has developed policy guidelines on accommodation for students at universities. The guidelines, which have been published in the Government Gazette, force tertiary educational institutions to cater for disabled students.Department spokesman Khaye Nkwanyana said that previously there had been no policy regarding the safety of students.The new policy stipulates that all universities provide access to the internet in all residences.Universities would be required to submit plans and strategies for the implementation of the policy by June.Wits spokesman Shirona Patel said the university meets the standards set by the Department of Higher Education and Training."Wits is committed to providing students with 'living and learning areas' - accommodation that is comfortable, conducive to learning and meets the technological demands of our era," she said.Patel said the university already offers a range of options.The secretary-general of the SA Student Congress, Luzuko Buku, said that the previously "black universities" were still battling to provide students with decent accommodation.Former "white universities" had acceptable facilities, but black students were denied access because of racism, he said."Housing conditions in former black institutions are inferior."In some of these universities students are forced to use cold water to shower, even in the middle of winter, and the food served is terrible."Accommodation is much better at previously white institutions, but black students are excluded and forced to look for private accommodation, where there are concerns about safety," said Buku.The leader of the DA-aligned student organisation Daso, Yusuf Cassim, said conditions differed substantially between previously black and previously white institutions."The conditions of student housing vary by university: generally the poorer, historically black institutions have very poor conditions, with students living in squalor."This is worsened by administrators who have entered into contracts with service providers who fleece the student funder, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, to pay for accommodation."Students are overcharged and put into small, squalid rooms," Cassim said...

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