Student activism has prompted universities and the state to re-examine the affordability of higher education. The recent announcement that government will subsidise poor and missing middle students by providing the funding to cover fee adjustments for 2017, is one such example.
As part of its #UJBeTheSolution campaign, the University is organising a fun walk to raise additional tuition fees for needy students.
“South Africa’s higher education institutions are currently experiencing a new wave of student activism with the focus on affordable tuition fees and the lack of funding for academically deserving and underprivileged students to continue their studies. It has become a serious topic among universities’ management, government officials and students across tertiary education institutions.
The UJ Future Walk on 2 October is an initiative that demonstrates UJ’s commitment to find solutions to empower our students for future success,” says Ms Nomsa Mahlangu, Senior Director at UJ’s Sports.
She points out that the issue of student funding has created a robust debate and through this initiative UJ is, once again, taking proactive steps to raise funds for these students. “The Future Walk, which is a joint initiative of the University’s Sport and Student Finance departments, aims to raise R10 million towards bursaries for underprivileged, academically deserving students at UJ,” she says.
The University of Johannesburg (UJ) has various initiatives that no other university has embarked on to fund students; i.e. the SRC top-up that funds student registrations at the beginning of each year (R20M for 2016), the Missing Middle fund (R76M raised thus far), the UJ Future Walk (target fundraising of R10M) and the additional R45 million NSFAS top up.
About the Future Walk
The Future Walk is a 5 km walkathon and 8 km run/walk on Sunday 2 October 2016. The Walk will be held in Auckland Park at the University’s AW Muller Stadium, located at the Bunting Road Campus.
The Discovery Medical Aid Scheme support this initiative and its members will be awarded points if they participate.
UJ Rio Olympians, Paralympians and select members from the University’s Student Representative Council will join in on the fun walk. All finishers will receive medals.
Starting times: 8km Run & Walk: 7:45am; 5km Walk: 7:30am.
Registering for the walk
Pre-entries available on http://www.quicket.co.za/events/18976-uj-future-walk/#/
Payment via credit card, debit card or EFT.
Credit Card Payments through UJ payment portal
Click on https://www.uj.ac.za/about/Pages/Credit-Card-Payments.aspx,
and use “FutureWalk” as your payment reference
EFT payments via online banking
EFT payments can be made directly, using the reference “FutureWalk”
ABSA Bank Account: 40-5564-2621
Branch Name: Corporate Premium Coverage
Branch Code: 632 005
Swift Code: ABSAZAJJ
Account Type: Cheque Account
More about the #UJbethesolution campaign:
https://www.uj.ac.za/corporateservices/advancement/Be%20The%20Solution/Pages/default.aspx
