DERBY DAY: Vice-chancellor Prof Adam Habib and Bidvest Wits Coach Gavin Hunt swopped pleasantries as the
Clever Boys prepare for their derby clash with TUKS. Photo: Luca Kotton
EXTRA-curricular activities, including sports should not be an extra cost to students,according to Wits Vice-chancellor Prof Adam Habib.
“I would like to stop charging fees for sports … [Now] you have to pay for accessing basic recreational sports, maybe if you play high performance sports it’s a different matter but recreational sports should be open access in the fees,” Habib said.
Habib made his comments at a jersey handover ceremony with Wits Clever Boys coach Gavin Hunt.
SRC president Shafee Verachia told Wits Vuvuzela that the discussion to end fees for extra-curricular clubs and societies has already begun.
“We already started this discussion with [Deputy Vice-chancellor] Prof Tawana Kupe and it’s not only sports it’s also the various other clubs and societies,”
“The extra out classroom activities are not accessible to most of our students. Students on bursaries, National Student Financial Aid Scheme and student loans are affected because all these structures don’t include
extra-curricular activities in their payments,”Verachia added.
Habib said the university’s current fee structure was confusing and should be simplified.
“You must be a PhD student to understand our fees structure because you have the fee, then for the course and for the club and society,” Habib said.
He added that when he went to university there was only a single fee that included extra-curricular clubs and societies.
“If somebody wants to play tennis or do cross country then we shouldn’t be charging them for the basic stuff , the infrastructure is there and it’s not costing anything so why should we be charging,” Habib said.
