Cape Town – Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) has cancelled its welcoming ceremony for students this year, spokesperson Lauren Kansley said on Wednesday.
The cancellation was owing to a reduced number of students enrolled as a result of last year’s student protests for free tertiary education.
More than 4 000 students had been registered for this academic year, Kansley said. As many as 4148 new students had registered on Monday.
On its Facebook page, CPUT said the annual welcoming ceremony for first-year students was cancelled because of time constraints, as last year’s protests had caused a delay in the university’s academic programme.
The event normally hosted at CPUT’s campuses in Bellville, Wellington, and Cape Town, has about 9000 first-year students in attendance who enrol for more than 70 programmes at the university.
Applicants posted on the university’s Facebook page that they had not received an acceptance response.
Meanwhile, at Stellenbosch University, thousands of first-year students are expected to take part in its annual social impact morning.
This year, along with the residences and private student organisations, student societies and clusters will also be participating in various tasks.
Among the activities taking place on Thursday will be painting of buildings and classes at the Legacy Community Project in Kayamandi and the St Idas Primary School in Stellenbosch, preparing light food packages for various community projects and schools.
According to the university’s Antoinette Smith-Tolken, the acting head of the division for social impact, the aim of the event is to introduce the new students to community development initiatives while also building on the culture of community.
“Students are encouraged to get involved with social impact initiatives through their residences, PSOs, student association and faculty committees to provide them with a total learning experience,” she said.