Difference between revisions of "Team:Pretoria UP/Human Practices"

FeesMustFall Protests - University of Pretoria. By Shenn Scott for Perdeby

The #FeesMustFall movement started in 2015 following an announcement of a fee increment of 8% in most universities. Students of the Witwatersrand University set the movement in motion by starting protests at their Braamfontein campus which soon spread to their other campuses and a few hours later, other universities. The University of Pretoria could not escape these wave of protests, and this resulted in a shutdown lasting an entire week.

In 2016, the movement has awakened with renewed energy. The protests started at the University of KwaZuluNatal before the announcement of the fee increments for 2017. On the 19th of September the minister of Higher Education Dr. Blade Nzimande announced an 8% cap on fees for students from households of an annual income of more than R600,000 and a 0% fee increment for students who are recipients of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme loan as well as those who are part of the “missing middle”. The “missing middle” is described as families with an annual income of less than R600,000.

This announcement received mixed reactions from students. The South African Students Congress welcomed the announcement, but minutes after, protests on various university campuses started. Students who are pro-#FeesMustFall argue that the 8% increase for students from “wealthy” families will further escalate racial tensions as the rich are mainly white and further argue that the 0% increment does not help students from poor and “missing middle” families as the current fees, together with accommodation fees still remain too high.

As expected, University of Pretoria also experienced disruptions. The evening of the announcements, we were evacuated as the fire alarm went off. The alarm was set off by protesting students who were demanding that we, together with everyone in other labs, join their protest. This resulted in us having to readjust our schedule and this resulted in a 2-day setback. Campus was then evacuated on Wednesday the 21st of September and this resulted in us locking ourselves in the lab to avoid forced evacuation by security. On Thursday 22nd September, classes were suspended and we received messages that classes will resume on Monday the 26th. This resulted in us being even more behind schedule.

FeesMustFall Protests - University of Pretoria.
By Shenn Scott for Perdeby

Classes indeed did resume the morning of 26th - however, under heavy security. The South African Police Service, private security, and campus security could be seen everywhere. Despite all the precautionary measures taken to ensure teaching and learning, protesters disrupted classes which resulted in security having to evacuate the remaining ongoing classes. Later during the day we received messages that recess would commence a week earlier. The access to campus was limited to staff and our advisors had to make arrangements for us to gain entry. Even this was not enough as there were days during the two-week recess period when we were not allowed entry despite the lists generated and approved by supervisors and the head of the Genetics Department.

With the spirit of iGEM and our dedication to our project we put in the extra effort in order to complete our project. We worked each day we were able to get onto campus and worked until late evenings and sometimes well into the next day. We faced many difficulties in the 2016 iGEM period, but with the power of team-work we made the completion of the project a reality.

iGEM Pretoria_UP working during FeesMustFall Protests - University of Pretoria.