Walter Sisulu University (Twitter)
Many students from Walter Sisulu University (WSU) who already bought their gowns for next month's graduation ceremony might not get to share in the day's festivities.
This is due to a recent scandal at the university when it came to light that several qualifications are not accredited, therefore rendering your degree useless.
A member of the Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC) Amanda Sogoni says about 59 Internal Auditing students are affected with scores of qualifications not accredited.
She says students are striking at the Butterworth and East London campuses while mass meetings were held in Komani and Mthatha on Thursday.
WSU admitted that several courses were not accredited affecting some students that graduated several years ago.
Sogoni says some WSU graduates are already occupying huge positions in big companies with qualifications that are not accredited.
These include students who "graduated" in:
Advanced Diploma in Internal Auditing
Advanced Diploma in Journalism
Master of Nursing
Master of Medicine
MMED in Ophthalmology, Gynaecology, Obstetrics, Internal medicine, Otorhinolaryngology, and Anaesthesiology
BSc Zoology
Postgraduate Diploma in Library and Information Studies and
Postgraduate Diploma in Chemical Pathology.
In a statement on Thursday, WSU Registrar Dr Lulamile Ntonzima said they had established an accreditation task team including external experts to conduct a thorough analysis of the history of the legacy qualifications.
Dr Ntonzima said should this not be resolved timeously, those due for graduation in the affected qualifications will not graduate with the May group.
Speaking to Algoa FM News, ISRC member Bathandwa Mangisa said some students had already geared up for the May graduation, spent enormous funds on their education, and that should not be in vain.
He said although they were still prepared to work with the management to find an amicable solution, they would not compromise students' interests.
However, Ntonzima encouraged students to return to class and continue engagements via recognized structures about their concerns.
