Exam Season is upon students once more, having begun on Wednesday the 15th of November 2017, but this time with the special addition of a new exam venue appropriately nicknamed “the festival tent”.
Photo: @BassMan_noname
November exams over the past three years at UCT have become a highly controversial topic in light of Fees Must Fall Protests, with the university management facing pressure from investors, parents, and other involved bodies to complete the academic calendar on schedule. This is what led the institution to the decision of erecting a new exam venue, which they describe as being “secured as fully as possible” to avoid the possibility of exams being disrupted by protesters (as some tests have been recently). The university has even gone to the extent of offering a financial reward of R30 000 to anyone who can offer information that leads to the arrest or successful prosecution of persons who have committed unlawful acts on campus – which, due to the interdict secured by UCT, includes anything that in any way disrupts UCT’s operations.
Located on the rugby fields between Upper and Middle Campus, the tent-like structure (officially named “November Hall”) is supposed to act a single exam venue whose access is being strictly controlled by a heavy security presence, including private security and police outfitted in riot gear, along with guard dogs like Rottweilers and German Shepherds.
Photo: Wandile Kasibe
The context in which exams are taking place is one in which students are calling for free tertiary education and better mental health awareness at the university, and one in which all parties are waiting on President Jacob Zuma to make a statement around the feasibility of free education following the release of the Fees Commission report – which was released this past Monday, the 13th of November 2017.
There has been a great deal of concern and criticism directed at UCT management for creating this new venue. The first criticism comes from the fact that so many students feel uncomfortable writing in a venue surrounded by so much security, while another has to do specifically with the deployment of dogs – which are seen as a symbol of the repression of protest under the Apartheid regime due to the sheer number of times they were deployed during that era (and how few times they have been deployed after).
Former SRC President, Seipati Tshabalala, tweeted: “I refuse to write my **Final** exams in a tent with dogs patrolling me! I refuse to carry a student card for random spot checks of my identity. Apartheid is supposedly over so I refuse to be subjected to this rubbish in 2017!!”
Photo: Wandile Kasibe
Other concerns are around the safety of exams being held in a tent that is made of flammable material and is therefore vulnerable to objects like Molotov cocktails or even simple lighters – a concern which should be taken seriously because of just how hated the structure is. The venue is also not a conducive space to write exams in due to the noise from its proximity to the highway. A consequence of all the factors mentioned above is the overall decline of the mental health of the student population, which is one of the biggest concerns about writing the impending exams. UCT’s Student Wellness Centre is currently so overbooked that requesting an appointment with a psychologist, even an urgent one, results in a wait of at least a few weeks before the consultation can even take place. UCT has consistently argued that they have not had the finances to assist financially excluded students, but creating this isolated exam venue surrounded by private security has cost university millions of Rands – and seemingly has only succeeded in making students feel less safe and secure, as well as creating images that reflect images of Apartheid-era repression and leave a bad taste in the mouths of many staff members, students, and parents – all of which have objected to the structure through their representational channels.