Port Elizabeth: NMMU Accepts Blind Students After SA National Council for the Blind Intervenes

Port Elizabeth South Africa - The SA National Council for the Blind (Council) met with the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) on 6 November 2013 in Port Elizabeth to address the concern that the University had refused admission to blind students to the university.

Council had learned that NMMU had refused to admit three blind students who wished to study at the university in 2014. Two students were invited for the university assessment, and on arrival at the university, were informed that they would not be allowed to proceed with the assessment since the university was not able to accommodate their special needs.

The third student had qualified in terms of the university entrance criteria, but was subsequently declined admission on the basis of his blindness.  A delegation from Council, including its National Executive Director, Mr Jace Nair, immediately engaged with the university.

After discussions, the Deputy Vice Chancellor of NMMU, Dr Sibongile Muthwa, stated that the university admission policy was clear that admission to all students was based upon academic criteria and the availability of space in the course numbers.

She went on to say that the one student who already qualified for university entry will be invited to continue with his application whilst the other two students will be invited to undergo the university assessment qualification. Muthwa apologised for the misunderstanding and inconvenience caused by the university.

The Dean of Student Affairs, Khaya Matiso, acknowledged the commitment of the university to transformation and diversity and further said that it is the dream of the university to remove barriers for the equal participation of all students including students with disabilities at the university.

The SA National Council for the Blind thanked the university for the decision to accept blind students and highlighted the importance of providing access to blind students in the spirit of the country celebrating twenty years of democracy, and in terms of the SA constitution, and the South African ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.

Mr Nair said that blind people require equal opportunity and removal of artificial barriers to ensure their full and equal participation in all aspects of South African life.

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Statement from NMMU Vice-Chancellor’s Office:

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) have taken on review an earlier decision by University Admissions to decline admission of two totally blind students on the grounds that NMMU did not have the facilities to 'reasonably accommodate' these students. 

To date, NMMU has provided for students with partial blindness and other physical disabilities.

The review was instituted by the NMMU Vice-Chancellor, Prof Derrick Swartz, after the matter was brought to his attention following media reports.

'Clearly, declining access to any student on the basis of disability per se is unconstitutional and cannot be permitted. Our staff is rightly concerned about having appropriate facilities to provide reasonable accommodation to differentially disabled applicants, and much more needs to be done in this regard at NMMU, but this cannot be used as a criterion for not considering admission to academic programmes'.

NMMU has already written to convey the reviewed decision and offered an apology to the affected two students on Tuesday this week.

Yesterday, university officials led by Dr. Sibongile Muthwa, also met with the National Council of the Blind of South Africa (NCBSA), a day after the decision.

Professor Swartz believes that this case has highlighted the need for the national higher education sector to adopt a coherent and workable national system providing high-quality support to a whole range of categories of mental and physical disability, in such a manner that clusters of institutions could specialize in providing support for particular kinds of disabilities as it may not be possible for all institutions to provide for all categories. And in the Eastern Cape, there is a need for the universities to work together in providing expanded opportunities to prospective learners with different kinds of disabilities.

"NMMU will have to increase its level of annual investments to offer study opportunities to a wider range of disabilities, not simply to meet its constitutional obligations, but to do what is right. Ours is a commitment to create a progressive university that offers new opportunities to potential learners who have intellectual abilities equal to anyone else, but who may have differential abilities to access our educational services'.