By OBAKENG MAJE
The newly-elected Student Representative Council (SRC) chairperson at Vuselela FET College (Taung campus), Kaone Rampudu, said her leadership will address various challenges experienced by students. Rampuru was elected uncontested during the SRC elections held on Monday evening in Pudimoe.
Recently, students embarked on protestation over outstanding debts, including structural challenges they are facing. However, Rampudu said, with a formal structure now in place, all challenges raised by students will be addressed.
“I was born in Vryburg and yes, I was elected uncontested on Monday. I think elections were free and fair as they were conducted online. I think my task is to ensure that all students are happily certified with everything that is happening at the campus.
“Those who owe the campus should come and make arrangements on how they will pay their outstanding balances. I believe that no student should be left out because of lack of affordability. Also, along with my collective, we will talk to the management to improve the facilities of the campus,” she said.
Rampudu further said she will have a consultative engagement with all students’ formation regarding any issues and find a lasting solution.
Meanwhile, the Vuselela FET College SRC president, Ratanang Khonkhobe said: “I think the elections were free and fair. So, we welcome the outcome. We also hope all those who have been elected to various portfolios will represent the students well.
“We understand that there were some challenges raised by students in all our campuses. However, as the institutional president, I will engage the management and ensure that all challenges raised by students in various campuses are addressed amicably.”
Khonkhobe added that there was a challenge over outstanding debts, where the college wanted the affected students to pay 50% of the money before they could be registered. However, she said they have resolved that matter and urged the college to reduce it to 30% and allow students to register.
“Indeed, this came as a shock to us because it was never communicated to us. On top of that, we never experienced that before. Normally, students will be allowed to register then make some arrangements.
“So, we had interaction with the college management and agreed that the students will be registered and make arrangements to pay their debts. We had a high number of students who failed some of their modules. So, it was a challenging process because this created uncertainty,” said Khonkhobe.
She said they even went out to various organisations, including municipalities seeking bursaries. Khonkhobe said she encourages students who still have outstanding balances to settle them.
“There are some students who refuse to pay their debts immediately after they receive funding from NSFAS. We urge those students to settle their outstanding balances.On the other hand, I think NSFAS can do better by funding more students.
“However, I am happy that, now I’ll be sitting in various committees and speak directly to the NSFAS officials. There are students who are eligible, but are not funded. So, we have SRC leaders, who are serving in various portfolios and we will engage them,” she said.
Khonkhobe said this will include urging college management to refurbish students’ accommodation. She also said, there is a challenge regarding students’ accommodation for off campus students and that will be part of the agenda too.
The Guardian 