A group of disgruntled students led by the Student Representative Council, who are refusing to abide by the University Residence Rules, have undertaken protest action this morning. They have vandalised infrastructure, strewn garbage inside residences and examination venues and are attempting to disrupt the mid-year examinations.
As per the University Residence Rules students must adhere to the following periods of accommodation:
a. The regular period of accommodation is from the one day before the start of the first semester until the last day of the mid –year examination and the day before the start of the second semester until the last day of final examinations.
b. Students are required to vacate the residence 48 hours after their final examination.
c. Students writing supplementary examination will be allocated a residence to reside in during supplementary examinations.
For this June/July vacation period, scheduled from 14 to 22 July 2022, the University has made a concession to allow students, for whom it is applicable, to only vacate their accommodation within 48 hours after their last supplementary examination. The supplementary examination period ends on 13 July 2022.
The mid-year vacation and end of year vacation periods allow the University to provide major maintenance to the residences, generate third-stream income to further support student social relief fund initiatives and provide places for alumni, student development programmes and sporting codes to be accommodated at a nominal cost.
Students who cannot go home during the vacation periods, due to extenuating factors, can make an application to the Residence Office and will need to provide a motivation with evidence to support their request.