Tertiary institutions have different views on whether mandatory vaccination should be introduced for students and staff.
As the country's vaccination programme intensifies, tertiary institutions have started mooting the possibility of bringing back face-to-face learning.
The University of Cape Town (UCT) last week became the first institution to indicate that its council will be debating mandatory vaccination for students and staff as a requirement for the new academic year. Council is expected to debate the issue on Saturday.
In its proposal, UCT wants, from January 1, all staff and students, as a condition for registration, to provide acceptable proof of having been vaccinated against Covid-19.
Those applying for study or employment, as well as visitors and service providers, will be required to be vaccinated.
The University of the Witwatersrand has also started consultation on introducing mandatory vaccination.
Spokesperson Shirona Patel said the university is consulting on whether it should make students who elect not to be vaccinated undertake daily health screening, wear an N95 mask and undertake weekly Covid-19 tests at their own cost.
Service providers visiting the university will be subjected to the same rule, if the proposal is adopted.
The University of Johannesburg (UJ) said it is also discussing the issue both internally and externally.
However, Prof Tawana Kupe, University of Pretoria’s vice-chancellor, was clear that mandatory vaccination is not on the cards, at least not for now.
“We are not keen on making vaccination mandatory. We’ve agreed that in the health sciences environment, there is mandatory vaccination. There is a good reason for that, they work with... patients. On the general mandatory vaccination, I’m not for it at this point in time. We might get there but I hope we never get there. We should give a chance to encouragement, persuasion and peer discussions to enable people to make a decision to vaccinate,” he said.
The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is also not keen on mandatory vaccination. “UKZN expects staff and students to get vaccinated on a voluntary basis, based on their knowledge of the importance of mitigating the spread and protection from the deadly virus,” said UKZN spokesperson Normah Zondo.
Higher Health, an agency of the department of higher education & training, said it has started bringing all those involved in post-school education to the table to debate the issue of vaccination.
CEO Prof Ramneek Ahluwalia said discussions are not just about mandatory vaccination but also how universities play a role in making more people get the jab.
“This Friday I have invited all the SRC [student representative council] presidents of all 26 universities, TVET [Technical Vocational Education & Training] colleges], all the principals of TVET colleges, vice-chancellors, deans of students in a closed room meeting where we are asking the experts to come and consult on the issues of regulation [of mandatory] vaccination.
“Our stance is very clear. The vaccination programme is still new and early, it is still maturing. This means there is still more opportunities for young people to get vaccinated. We think it is a bit too early to put a word called regulation. But this is a correct time for us to do consultation and engage the population on the future,” Ahluwalia said.
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