The University of the Western Cape has been accused of trying to force students to pay their debt before they can graduate.
The UWC Student Representative Council (SRC) has slammed the university’s Acknowledgement of Debt Agreements.
The student body says many students would not be able to graduate as they need to pay large amounts of money, such as 30% of their accumulated student debt in order to graduate.
“The SRC is of the view that there is no sense in demanding that a student coming from a poor or working class background, pay up front thirty percent (30%) of their accumulated student debt, just so that they walk the stage and be conferred their qualification.
“This forces the student body to question whether UWC is truly an institution of the left: the working class and the historically disadvantaged people of our society.
“It is for this reason that the SRC has vehemently rejects the position taken by management, who sees nothing wrong with the system that is hell-bent on forcing the most disadvantaged of students to pay up large sums of money, just so that they can graduate,” the SRC says in a statement.
However UWC spokesperson Gasant Abarder says the university allows students with outstanding fees to graduate “symbolically” upon completion of an Acknowledgement of Debt Agreement.
“The university does not have a rule where it only allows students to graduate once they have settled 30% of their accumulated student debt. Each Acknowledgement of Debt Agreement is decided on a case-by-case basis where the student’s individual circumstances are considered and affordability is taken into account.”
Abarder said graduates with outstanding fees are issued with a “completion letter” which can be used to further their studies and employment.
“Completion letters are accepted across South Africa and Internationally and we do numerous verifications directly to employers where students and/or graduates have outstanding fees.”