Scores of Unisa students are in shock after the university postponed their exams at the last minute yesterday.
The postgraduate students were scheduled to sit for exams yesterday at Cambridge Hall in East London.
They are studying towards becoming chartered accountants and were scheduled to write five papers, starting at 8am and continuing to 5pm.
Students said they were notified late on Monday that the venue had been changed to Robbie de Lange Hall in Greenfields.
No explanation for this was given by the university in text messages sent to them, they said.
When the Daily Dispatch arrived at Robbie de Lange Hall some students were loitering around while others were seated at a few round tables.
The hall had not been set up for exams.
Later, a truck arrived carrying tables and chairs.
A senior invigilator announced that exams would proceed and asked students to assist in off-loading desks and chairs.
However, the exam was later cancelled.
Unisa spokesman Martin Ramotshela said they were aware of the “unfortunate” incident of the venue change.
“The change of venue was the result of Unisa receiving late notice about the unavailability of the original venue, a matter which we are currently pursuing with the relevant service provider,” Ramotshela said.
“However, as a university, we take full responsibility for the impact this has had on our students and we apologise sincerely for the inconvenience caused.”
Ramotshela said the university postponed the exams until Saturday.
“Affected students will be notified via sms with the full details of the rescheduling,” he said.
Attempts were made to get clarity on whether the students would write a different paper as to those who had already sat for exams elsewhere, but a response had not been received at the time of writing.
Unisa Student Representative Council national secretary-general Buyisile Njokweni said the university had acted irresponsibly by not informing students of the changes earlier. — msindisif@dispatch.co.za
Uproar as Unisa postpones exams
The postgraduate students were scheduled to sit for exams yesterday at Cambridge Hall in East London.
They are studying towards becoming chartered accountants and were scheduled to write five papers, starting at 8am and continuing to 5pm.
Students said they were notified late on Monday that the venue had been changed to Robbie de Lange Hall in Greenfields.
No explanation for this was given by the university in text messages sent to them, they said.
When the Daily Dispatch arrived at Robbie de Lange Hall some students were loitering around while others were seated at a few round tables.
The hall had not been set up for exams.
Later, a truck arrived carrying tables and chairs.
A senior invigilator announced that exams would proceed and asked students to assist in off-loading desks and chairs.
However, the exam was later cancelled.
Unisa spokesman Martin Ramotshela said they were aware of the “unfortunate” incident of the venue change.
“The change of venue was the result of Unisa receiving late notice about the unavailability of the original venue, a matter which we are currently pursuing with the relevant service provider,” Ramotshela said.
“However, as a university, we take full responsibility for the impact this has had on our students and we apologise sincerely for the inconvenience caused.”
Ramotshela said the university postponed the exams until Saturday.
“Affected students will be notified via sms with the full details of the rescheduling,” he said.
Attempts were made to get clarity on whether the students would write a different paper as to those who had already sat for exams elsewhere, but a response had not been received at the time of writing.
Unisa Student Representative Council national secretary-general Buyisile Njokweni said the university had acted irresponsibly by not informing students of the changes earlier. — msindisif@dispatch.co.za
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