Witwatersrand University management has resolved that lectures resume on Tuesday. All staff will return to work on Monday.
“The academic programme will resume on Tuesday. The phased opening follows several engagements with a range of stakeholders, including students, where we ceded to requests for a phased opening this week,” the university said on Sunday.
Additional private security would be brought on campus while police would remain “on the perimeter of the campus” and would only be brought onto campus if necessary. Security would be gradually withdrawn from campus provided there was no violence, intimidation, and destruction of property.
“We urge staff and students to work with us as we reopen this week. Together, we can still save the 2016 academic year while continuing the struggle for free education for the poor and the so called ‘missing middle’.”
The university conducted an electronic poll on Thursday to determine whether lectures should resume. The poll showed that 77 percent of respondents wanted lectures to resume, with 23 percent voting against it. The university said there were 21,730 responses to the poll, with 16,739 voting for lectures to resume and 4991 voting no.
The students and staff were asked: “Should Wits open on Monday, 3 October, subject to appropriate security protocols being in place?”
Meanwhile, some Wits students gathered on campus on Sunday to map a way forward. They remained adamant that they would not return to classes until their demands were met. The students’ research task team presented a free education funding model they came up with. The model suggested that the state bring back a 50 percent contribution to higher education. The team reportedly calculated that it would cost R60 billion a year to fund education. More money would be sourced from the private sector and a wealth tax contribution by the country’s “rich”.
University campuses have been rocked by protests since last year as students continue to demand free higher education. An announcement by Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande that fee increases for 2017 would be capped at eight percent brought another wave of protests as students demanded no fee increases until government implemented free higher education. Lectures have been suspended at most universities as the unrest continues.
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