Johannesburg - Wits University says it was caught off guard this week when one of their final year medical students, Mumtaaz Emeran, took to social media and crowdfunded R471 000 student debt she owed the institution.
The student, originally of Bo Kaap in Cape Town, had made an impassioned plea on social media, rallying South Africans to help her pay her debt so she could attend her graduation ceremony and receive her medical degree certificate. She had been let down by a sponsor, with whom she had entered into a contract to fund her studies from her fourth year.
Emeran had been funding her own studies for her first three years of medical school, working part-time for a sportswear brand and holding retail jobs, until she secured a sponsor who was supposed to shed her load.
But the sponsor, whose name she did not wish to disclose, never paid. She realised at start of this year she had a mountain of unpaid debt.
Emeran said the explanation from her sponsor was the money was paid to Wits, but it somehow turned out the money had gone elsewhere and never reached the institution’s bank account.
Attempts were made during the year to sort out the ordeal, but nothing came of it until the student’s desperate plea this week.
“I had a baby at the age of 16 and wanted to give my son the best life possible, so I took a one way ticket from Cape Town to Johannesburg, paid myself through medical school and even had to sit out for a year to make enough money to go back to school.
“And then I got this sponsor who was going to fund my studies, I was relieved to get the sponsor,” she said.
But ultimately, the sponsor let her down, badly.
“Now the difficult thing for me was that I have made it this far only to have this issue hinder my way forward, because I really want this so badly for my family, for my son, and myself,” Emeran told IOL earlier this week before her debt had been cleared.
On Thursday, the student, with the help of social media, had settled her R471 000 student bill.
“Marks just got released and it’s official, I passed, I am qualified. It’s official South Africa, we did it.
“So many amazing things have happened today, my son turned 12, South Africa helped settle my debt in 24 hours and I passed. God came through for us today,” she said on Instagram.
Wits University spokesperson Shirona Patel said the university only learnt of Emeran’s plight via social media and said it was “unfortunate” the student had not alerted the faculty office earlier about her plight with her sponsor.
“If she had, the university would have tried to connect her with another sponsor or advised her about a low-interest loan scheme for health sciences students. In any case, once we heard, the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences called the student and met with her yesterday (on Wednesday) in order to try to resolve her set of particular issues,” she said.
But Emeran said she was recently told by the university to clear the debt, otherwise she would not be able to get her certificate or be part of any graduation ceremony.
She said not obtaining her certificate would jeopardise her internship with a public hospital next year, but Wits denied this, saying all students, whether they had debt or not, had full access to their academic records which could be used to help them seek employment.
In clarifying the universities graduation policy, Patel said students regularly received statements notifying them of their fees and outstanding amounts.
“The university makes concessions for students. For example, students who owe R15 000 or less are allowed to graduate and pay off their fees interest-free once they start working. They also work out payment plans with the university and sign acknowledgement of debt forms.
“Students who owe fees still receive their transcripts and a letter from the university so that they can approach potential employees, although they only receive their actual certificate once fees are paid in full.
“It must be noted that about 95% of students who are employed found work within six months of graduating from Wits.”
Patel said the university administered about R1billion in financial aid, scholarships and bursaries, including the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, every year. This accounted for 50% of the university’s funding model.
“If, as some people have suggested on social media, we write off the R400 000 for this student, we would set a precedent and would have to do so for all other students. This could amount to R300-R400m per annum, and would make the university unsustainable. It would also close the doors of learning for future generations,” the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, Emeran will be starting her internship at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital next year.
“When it's meant for you it will be for you,” she said.
IOL