Classes At UWC Expected To Resume Following Student Protest

Classes at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) are expected to resume, as per normal, on Tuesday morning.

A group of students embarked on a protest, disrupting classes as the first lectures of the 2020 academic year got underway on Monday.

The Student Representative Council has issued the university’s executive with an open letter which addresses student accommodation, clearance for registration and a call for the immediate postponement of the start of the academic year to next Monday.

The university said that it would make contact with the student leadership to understand the specific reasons behind the demonstrations.

UWC’s Gasant Abarder said that students and the university had been in constant communication about the grievances they’d highlighted.

“It’s never easy to prevent issues like these because these things seem to happen on the spur of the moment even though you’ve constant engagement between the students and their executive line that looks after student development and support.”

Abarder said that the protests came as a surprise.

“The students asked for three issues in their open letter to the university’s executive. All of the issues, the student leadership in the form of the SRC and the central house committee were all part of and they understand the processes as well.”

EWN