Arbitrator 'needed to curb student protests'
An education analyst feels an independent arbitrator should be appointed to facilitate discussions between university management and student leaders with the aim of putting an end to violent protests.
Last week, protest action reached a peak with students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal setting vehicles and buildings alight on the Westville and Pietermaritzburg campuses.
Management was forced to shut its doors for the safety of students and staff while negotiations got underway with various student representative bodies.
Their grievances include apparent increases in the registration fee and changes to the policy that determines the qualification of students applying for the funding scheme NSFAS.
Analyst Kobus Maree says the protests impact negatively on the completion of modules before the end-of-year exams.
''That kind of behavior does not belong at the university. We have grown up people, who know that the world is changing, they know that jobs are getting scarcer and scarcer and harder to come by.
''They know that the impacting of it [own employability], burning things down serves no purpose whatsoever,'' he said.
(File photo)