Staff Reporter
Students doing their final year in nursing and allied health sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) will be the next group to be allowed on campus when the South Africa moves to alert Level 3 on Monday.
In a letter addressed to students, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor Professor Francis Petersen said the phased return of students is line with the regulations of Level 3 lockdown stipulating that only a third of the staff and students may be on campus for face-to-face classes.
“The next cohort of students who will be returning to campus is final-year students in nursing and the allied health sciences,” he said in the letter.
“These students will receive letters from the faculty of health sciences in due course to enable their return to campus in the first week of June 2020.
“Thereafter, all health sciences students with a clinical rotation component will be expected to arrive in the second week of June 2020.”
The vice-chancellor said the other students who will receive permits to return to campus before the end of June are undergraduate and postgraduate students in programmes where laboratory and practical work is needed, as well as students in honours and postgraduate diploma programmes.
Petersen said the re-integration process will also focus on final-year students registered in programmes associated with a professional body, and students in exit-level modules to be completed this year as well as students who need a work-integrated learning component in order to complete their qualification.
These students, he said, will be expected to arrive on campus during the first week of July.
Under Level 4 of the national lockdown, only final-year medical students in the MB ChB programme were allowed to return to campus as per the national directive.
No other students were allowed as part of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
“. . . we will now proceed with the return of staff and students to campus based on a phased approach, the principle of social/physical distancing, as well as the fact that a maximum of 33 percent of the university’s staff and student population may be allowed on campus during Level 3 of the national lockdown as per the national directive,” Petersen explained.
“Only academic and support staff involved in the academic programme for students returning to campus will be allowed on campus from June 1, while the rest of the staff will continue working from home.”
International students returning to campus will be screened and quarantined in identified government facilities as per the national regulation.
Students who cross inter-provincial borders and those who reside in hotspots as stipulated in the national regulations will be expected to adhere to the university’s screening protocols and complete the COVID-19 online screening questionnaire on a daily basis before accessing the campus.
Those showing symptoms of COVID-19 will be asked to self-isolate before undergoing tests.
Meanwhile, Petersen said some students had not benefited from the online studies implemented by the university during the lockdown as they had no access to the relevant resources.
“Data has shown that there is a small number of students who are not active on Blackboard and/or who have not received an electronic device from the UFS,” he said.
“These students have been identified and will be invited to return to campus by the end of June 2020 for further online learning.
“In the case of the Qwaqwa campus, faculties have identified approximately 3 000 students in this category – printed material will be sent to their home addresses.
“Students with disabilities in all the mentioned categories, as well as those identified as challenged, have been prioritised and will be contacted.”
The UFS said more than 1 000 staff members have been trained over the past two months in the university’s remote online strategy and are continuously assisting with improving the learning experience for all students.