The truth remains the same for many UP students: finances still hold a lot of students by the neck. Walking from one place to another, being met with closed doors and unresponsive bursaries, students are left with no hope of financial assistance.
Registrations are still a topic of discussion, and the university still awaits fees from the previous year. However, unanswered questions still remain: what happened to #FeesMustFall, and how many students will stay home due to the same financial battles?
PDBY spoke to an anonymous postgraduate student at UP who said that life has become too challenging. “I can feel the financial strain because now l have to pay transportation fees to travel from home to campus on a daily basis, and this is rather hard.”
How can we bridge the gap and spread awareness about students’ financial needs? How do we directly confront the unheard financial battles of every student in the university and those outside of the institution? Who can students talk to and how can the university assist these students to at least start their academic year?
Communication has been sent from UP saying that postgraduate students have been granted permission to register without paying the R13 500 registration fee. Many students have been notified about this, and the extended final date for postgraduate registration is 28 February. The university extends grace to students to at least register. This, however, is no student grant. Students still need assistance so that they can further their studies. But where do they start looking?
An anonymous student commented on the fact that although she still awaits funding, she feels grateful towards the Senior Financial Assistance Office for clearing her registration because now she attends classes without worrying about outstanding registration fees.
Students are still fighting for free education. The challenges are still there, and the university can only do so much. They can help students further by connecting them to bursaries. The University of Pretoria has financial aid to help bridge the identified gap. It is not just postgraduate students who are seeking financial assistance. The question of where to go remains fully unanswered because many students knock on the same doors and only a few of them receive financial assistance.
