AISHA HAUSER
This week, student protests against rising tuition fees at UCT reemerged – contributing to a hectic first week for student journalists at The Times.
Protests, spurred by the delayed release of a financial report on the feasibility of free tertiary education by the President, resulted in the disruption of academic activity at UCT, causing management to cancel all class and exams Thursday and Friday. In addition to demanding the release of the financial report, protesters are calling for the clearance of students’ historical debt that prohibits them from continuing their studies, removal of all private security from campus and investigation on alleged sexual/physical abuse by the officers, and an inquiry into the underpayment and mistreatment of cafeteria workers.
On Wednesday afternoon, I had the opportunity to travel to UCT and report on the protests with a full time reporter at the times. I witnessed classes being disrupted, spoke to students about their take on the feasibility of free education, and attended a mass meeting organized by the SRC to outline student demands and hear students’ concerns before going to a senate meeting with management.
Here are the links to the resulting news stories:
- Protests shut down UCT
- Protesting UCT students won’t back down
- UCT seeks urgent court order banning violent protests
