Students at UWC invade lecture rooms – 17 July 2010

Protesting students at the University of the Western Cape invaded lecture rooms this week in protest against delays in the allocation of money from the government.

Youth leaders from the Students’ Representative Council (UCT) led a group of over 400 students across campus, invading lectures, dancing on desks, switching off computers and lights in lecture theatres. Students claim that the university’s financial aid office has delayed paying out money owed to the Student Financial Aid Scheme that is used for tuition, accommodation and food. They say the university’s management team had failed to address their concerns. Students are now demanding that their funding allocations are paid out, and that the university conduct an audit into the affairs of the financial aid office. In a statement, the acting rector of UWC, Professor Ramesh Bharuthram, said: “The issue of funding and support for students is at the core of providing a living and learning environment for academic success and co-curricular participation. We hope that our willingness to engage student leadership would continue in providing discussion platforms to find meaningful solutions.”