Cape Tow - A summit on safety, security and mental health will be convened by Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande as part of the agreement with the South African Union of Students (SAUS) on Saturday to halt the shutdown at universities.
Nzimande and the union agreed to convene a summit before the end of April and urged all universities to submit their sexual harassment policies to the department within two months.
Co-ordinator for the Stellenbosch University medical school residences on the Tygerberg campus, Njabulo Maphumulo, has been dealing with student mental health issues since starting his job in July last year.
Maphumulo said the proposed summit came at the right time for the higher education landscape. “Many institutions have been battling with these issues in terms of how they should be managed. A summit that will gather necessary stakeholders in one room can yield positive outcomes”.
He said as a priority mental health needed to top the agenda.
“Most issues that students were battling with were related to mental health.”
Maphumulo added that safety of campuses was a shared responsibility, and it should also top the agenda.
“The 2019 academic year, showed students were vulnerable and easily targeted. To think we had students who were murdered within institutions' premises or off campus is a major concern.” He said the summit would have to draft clear resolutions that must be implemented.
SA Students Congress provincial chairperson Buyile Matiwane said they appreciated all the efforts geared at resolving the persistent challenges faced by students.
“We, however, urge that this forum resist being a mere talk shop and move towards providing practical solutions to these challenges.
"There have been many forums organised in the past, geared at addressing the same issue and if we are to move progressively we will need to make a poignant analysis of where those forums fell short,” Matiwane said.
“We would like the summit to also look deeply at the funding deficiencies faced by the missing middle. It should also look at the inadequacies relating to the criteria for financial aid."
University of Cape Town deputy vice-chancellor for transformation Professor Loretta Feris said the UCT Council approved the Student Mental Health Policy in 2018.
She said the student affairs department, together with other university stakeholders, also initiated the implementation of the policy by realigning the Student Wellness Service to widen access to students and increase the psychological services footprint on campus in line with primary healthcare principles.
She added it included the introduction of a triage system and risk-assessment sessions as an entry point and to ensure that students who required urgent assistance or who were at high risk were identified and referred to the right set of resources without delay.
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