Cape Town - Ongoing student protests over tuition may force a UCT postgraduate student to suffer another career setback more than three decades after anti-apartheid student uprisings.
Elizabeth Isaacs, 49, a nurse, was among activist students who were denied the right to write their final matric exams in 1985. Thirty-one years later she has found herself in the same position as student protest action continues across the country and she has not been able to focus on her academics.
“Back then the student protest for liberation started mid-year 1985 and ended towards the end of the year. We were unable to write our matric exams and some of us chose to repeat the year instead of dropping out and working in factories like many other students did. We were disappointed we had no farewell, no graduation and I fear the same is going to happen this year again.
“This is a setback I cannot afford. I have already delayed my life by a year. I don’t think it’s fair that I am expected to do the same again. I have responsibilities to see to,” the mother of two said.
Isaacs is employed by the provincial health department. She has been a nurse for 26 years and is doing postgraduate studies as a children’s specialist.
“This degree costs about R40 000 for one year. This is money my employer has invested in me through the university. If I don’t complete my degree I will have to return the money - that is money I don’t have.
“This has already been a very stressful year we were working under pressure and now we won’t be able to reap the fruits of that labour,” she said.
She said as much as she felt the frustration of the protesting students, she still had to worry about her own circumstances.
“When I fought for liberation this was not what I fought for. Decades after democracy and we still have to protest for basic rights.”
A parent to a first-year astrophysics student, Zulaka de Waal, said parents were not being consulted on university dynamics. “We can’t contribute to finding a solution. We need to include the private sector.”
Cape Argus