Higher Education Ministry intervenes in TUT dispute

Tshwane University of Technology students took part in a protest calling for better education on 16 August 2012. Picture: Christa Van der Walt/EWN
| 19 August 2012
JOHANNESBURG - The Higher Education Ministry on Sunday expressed its commitment to resolving a dispute between management at the Tshwane University of Technology and its Student Representative Council (SRC) which has led to the closure of three campuses.

Students were told to vacate residences and that lectures have been suspended at the Soshanguve, Garankuwa as well as the Pretoria West campus following a week of violent protest.

The students were protesting following claims that the National Student Fund Aid Scheme failed to pay tuition fees for at least 30 percent of students who rely on the funding.

Deputy Minister Mduduzi Manana met with the SRC on Saturday.

He said he hopes to meet with the institution's management on Monday.

“We have the responsibility to hear both sides of the story. We are hoping we can help them settle this dispute.”
 
(Edited by Lindiwe Mlandu)