Higher education minister Blade Nzimande addressed the media on Tuesday about the phased return of students, NSFAS and screening as a means to combat the spread of Covid-19.
Here are five important takeouts from his briefing:
TUT manufacturing its own sanitisers
The university has diverted some of its funds towards manufacturing its own sanitisers and disinfectants from the institution’s laboratories.
“My impression about TUT is that they have repurposed one of their engineering laboratories to produce sanitisers and disinfectants for the whole university and also supply the surrounding poor communities.”
Daily screenings
Students, lecturers and staff will be required to register their temperatures using the HealthCheck app, which will in turn determine if they are low, medium or high Covid-19 risk.
“HealthCheck is a daily monitoring tool using one’s own cellphone. It is available in various platforms and one does not need to have a smartphone, but you can use any device to access HealthCheck. It is secure for use by students and staff entering our campuses daily to self-check their body temperature, and will link data to the system of the department of health.”
Provision of devices
Students will receive electronic devices such as laptops to ensure the continuation of their studies during the lockdown. Their procurement will begin later in the week through an open tender system.
“We have agreed with National Treasury that given the huge amounts involved in the central acquisition of outstanding tablets, it is better to follow proper procedures than take short cuts even if there is some delay, so as to properly account for spending tax payers' money. We are also finalising the process of verifying which NSFAS students have acquired devices to avoid mistakenly issuing some students with more than one device.”
Phased in reopening
Only a third of students will be allowed to return to campuses in the coming weeks.
“Under level 4, we allowed for the controlled return of final-year students in programmes that require clinical training, starting with students who are training as medical practitioners and the phasing in of all other programmes that require clinical training like nursing, dentistry and veterinary science. I further announced that as we move to alert level 3, within two three weeks after that, we will then begin the phasing in of 33% of the students.”
Finishing on time
NSFAS beneficiaries must finish their degree/diplomas within the stipulated time.
“If you get a NSFAS bursary or assistance, you are expected to finish your diploma, certificate or degree within a particular period. With the old NSFAS system, before 2018, we were giving NSFAS students at least an extra two years to finish their degree or diploma.
If it’s a three-year diploma, we would allow you to fail twice, taking into account these were poor students. After 2018, we said we can only allow you to fail once because there are many other people who are needy.”
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