Advocating for effective student support

Speaking at the recent Management Lekgotla, Tshepo Neito, Acting Manager: Student Governance, and Advocate Ntshavheni Netshituni, Braille Proof-Reader and  Transcriber: ARCSWiD left no stone unturned in advocating for inclusive and equal education opportunities for Unisa students.

Neito stressed that stability and good relations between management and students are key to ensuring that Unisa succeeds in its quest to reclaim and reimagine Africa's intellectual futures. His address aimed to represent Unisa students’ needs as well as address systemic challenges. Against the backdrop of Unisa’s commitment to being an African university shaping futures in the service of humanity, Neito emphasised the urgent need for Unisa to work towards its goal of responsive student centredness. He said, “Unisa is the backbone of South Africa's higher education system, and we need to be mindful of that reality at all times.” In this regard, Neito explained that Student Affairs needs to be positioned so that it is at the centre of critical services within the university such as psychological counselling, because mental issues are a growing concern in society. He explained that it is important to align Student Affairs services within the context of issues that influence higher education and its missions, societal concerns and needs that shape the parameters for Student Affairs work.

Unisa will strengthen its provision of a supportive university environment that caters for inclusive and equal education opportunities.

Neito also stressed the need for the university through Student Affairs to imagine life after learning at the institution.  “For example, life beyond the Student Representative Council (SRC).  “We should address ideas, such as how we can ensure that we have a co-curricular programme that is, for example, three to six months where we offer potential leaders social leadership skills so that when they leave the university, they're able to make an impact.”  

Neito emphasised that Student Affairs should aim to engage students in active learning because this provides students with opportunities for experimentation through programmes focused on various learning experiences. These opportunities, he pointed out, should include experiential learning such as governance, sport, competitions, field-based learning such as internships and other structured group experiences. Also important given South Africa’s higher education funding system, Neito said that Unisa must find ways to support and eliminate, if not reduce, the debt of the “missing middle” (students who are too poor to afford higher education, yet not poor enough to qualify for funding through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

Equal education opportunities to students with disabilities

Speaking on behalf of students with disabilities, Netshituni explained the mandate of ARCSWiD, which is to provide much-needed support to students with disabilities and to provide equal education opportunities in tandem with the Constitution of South Africa.  Explaining their work, he said, “It is true that we develop our systems in a manner that seeks to advance the cause of learning but we find that most people become devoid of supporting students with disabilities.” Netshituni elaborated that there are two categories of disabilities: those that are very visible and require direct academic support, including study material development in alternative formats, and those that require academic support in the form of adaptation of content material.  “The second category is of disabilities that are not visible,” he said.

He advocated for absolute support to students with disabilities  so that “we have support during application and registration because it is at this stage that we ensure that our students get to accordingly apply in terms of these types of disabilities, this is so that our services can be aligned to their needs”. Some of the services the university renders to students with disabilities include the provision of study material in alternative formats like braille, audio and electronic format, including Digital Accessible Information Systems (Daisy) and also in large print. Unisa also provides services like sign language interpretation and collaboration with publishers so that the prescribed material can be made available in the format that is required by students with various needs.

Taking into account Unisa’s service offering to students with disabilities, Netshituni explained, “Over the years, the enrolment of students with disabilities has averaged between 4 000 to 5 000. But during the 2020 academic year, the numbers started dwindling quite drastically.” Approximately 3 600 students with disabilities registered with Unisa in 2021 and this dropped to around 2 600 in 2022.  Netshituni argued that the decline could be because “we are doing something wrong ever since the pandemic and possibly before then.” He added: “We assume that the delayed or unclear provisioning of NSFAS could be problematic. We have had many complaints from students that NSFAS is either delaying or that they are getting assistive devices that are not relevant to their needs.” He further identified challenges faced by students with disabilities to include delayed delivery of tools for their respective needs, no response to requests for alternative formats on study material by publishers and restrictions imposed by Covid-19. In this regard, Netshituni appealed to the university community to consider the needs of students with disabilities. Given some of the changes in assessment methods that were implemented during Covid-19, he stressed that there is nothing wrong with change, but sometimes the changes were oblivious of the realities of the university’s communities. Netshituni stressed the importance of a supportive university environment that caters for inclusive and equal education opportunities for Unisa students.

*By Tshimagadzo Mphaphuli, Senior Journalist, Department of Institutional Advancement