Tense student protest outside False Bay College
Students protested outside the Khayelitsha Campus of False Bay College this morning. A crowd of about 300 people blocked access to the main gate. Police attended the scene.
The reasons for the protest were unclear. Protesting students were unwilling to provide names and were apprehensive about photographs being taken of them. One student said that the protest was over the changes to the criteria for eligibility for travel allowances.
According to a Student Representative Council member, the Department of Higher Education & Training provides various FET colleges and universities with funding through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. One such fund is for travel allowances for students, but new rules stipulate that students residing within ten kilometres of the campus do not qualify for a travel allowance. This leaves many students with little choice except to walk to and from college to attend classes.
The college is just off Mew Way on the East side of Khayelitsha. The ten kilometre radius includes all of Khayelitsha, Blue Downs, some of Macassar, and most of Mitchell’s Plain. Many students said that walking to campus could take them as long as three hours and was very unsafe.
Many students arrived at the campus to attend classes, but the university . These students expressed concern that they had exams looming and needed to study.
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