The curriculum for 500 student nurses at four colleges in Gauteng has been affected by an early recess due to non-payment of their stipends.
The department of health cited an administrative glitch, saying human resources management officials are finalising the capturing and verification of the required documentation.
“The relevant files are being submitted to e-Government to enable the processing of stipend payments. Funds are expected to reflect in students’ accounts on Thursday, June 4, and they are expected to return to college on June 8.
“As an interim measure, college management has released affected students for recess. This arrangement will not affect the standard July recess, to which students remain entitled.
”Curriculum master plans will be adjusted and managed accordingly to ensure that academic and clinical training requirements are met."
The Independent Health and Allied Workers Union (Ihawu) expressed frustration, saying there was a continued failure by the provincial department to pay student nurse stipends on time.
“Student nurses rely heavily on these stipends for basic survival, including transport to colleges and healthcare facilities, accommodation, food, study materials, and other daily necessities. The department’s administrative failures have placed vulnerable students under severe financial and emotional pressure.”
The impact of these delayed stipend payments includes increased absenteeism from classes and clinical placements; risk of academic underperformance and possible dropouts; and disruption of clinical training hours required for qualification.
The union called on the Gauteng department of health to implement urgent intervention measures to prevent future payment failures and for the provincial government to probe the “systemic administrative failures within the department that continue to negatively affect healthcare workers and students”.
TimesLIVE
