Pretoria - The graduations division at Unisa has commenced its last round of visits to finalise the collection of outstanding certificates by students who have completed their qualifications.
On Friday, the university announced that its graduation division would be visiting its regional offices from October 22 until November 6 in order to finalise the collection of the certificates that were allegedly delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent national lockdown levels.
Unisa advised students to collect their certificates from their regional offices once they had received an SMS from the university indicating the specific date and place of collection.
The university came under fire in August after students launched an online petition regarding the delayed receipt of their certificates despite some of them having completed their courses months earlier.
Odette Jones, who initiated the online petition which ended up garnering 990 signatures, wrote that the delays by Unisa in issuing students certificates had resulted in many of them being unable to get requisite registrations with industry bodies or apply for work locally or abroad.
She believed forfeited in-contact graduations obviously saved the institution money.
“We have paid the university for three to four years to get our degrees. The fact that we were online for most exams in the latter part of last year and this year, is a clear indication that you (Unisa) once again saved money,” explained the petition.
Due to operational challenges experienced, however, the institution announced that it had arranged courier services locally and internationally to deliver certificates to students.
The certificates for the 2021 Spring graduation period would, according to the university, be ready for collection later in the year.
Pretoria News