The University of Fort Hare's Bachelor of Science in Speech-Language Therapy graduates are sitting with their hands in their hair after they were told that they would not be registered with the Health Professions Council (HPCSA) because their qualifications did not meet the minimum requirements set out by the council.
The first group of students for the four-year degree started in 2018 and graduated in 2021.
There have been two more groups of students since the program was offered who graduated in 2022 and last year, yet none of them have been registered with the HPCSA.
HPCSA chairperson of the Speech, Language, and Hearing Board, Lebogang Ramma says the institution was informed in 2021 that the program does not meet the standards.
"For a program to receive its accreditation, the frequent progress reports on how the program is being implemented need to be submitted to the HPCSA."
Ramma says after the first report was received from the university in 2019, the council noted several things that were not in place which meant that members of the council would need to visit the institution to ensure that the recommendations are correctly implemented.
This visit would then be at the university's cost. "Fort Hare asked that we not come in 2019 but rather in 2020 as they did not have the finances for the visit."
Then due to the COVID-19 pandemic and regulations, the visit could not take place as scheduled but the council requested that the institution submit its curriculum for review.
In June 2021, the visit from the HPCSA finally took place and still, the program did not meet the standards.
"There were eight recommendations made by the council to help ensure that the program gets accredited."
By the end of 2021, the recommendations were still not implemented.
Ramma says many back-and-forth meetings were held with the UFH to salvage the matter.
He says even the exam that was set up by the institution was so below par that they could not allow students to go out on the field.
The then dean of students implemented an intensive program for the 2021/2022 graduates to provide them with more exposure and training to meet the HPCSA standards
"We are awaiting those results and once we have it, the board will then decide whether or not the students can be registered," added Ramma
Algoa FM News tried to get comment from the university, on numerous occasions, but with no success.
