UCT could shut down until 2017 if protests persist, warns Max Price

UCT's Max Price says shutting down campus is a worst case scenario which would have severe consequences for students and staff.

UCT vice-chancellor Max Price has cautioned that the university could shut down for the year, if student protests continue.

The vice-chancellor discussed the implications of continued disruptions on campus, during a media briefing on Wednesday.

University management announced that there will be no graduation ceremonies later this year, amid a second week of suspended classes.

Price says that management will monitor the situation on campus and hopes the academic programme will resume without disruption come Monday 3 October, reports EWN's Shamiela Fisher.

So long as classes resume next week, the suspension of lectures will not prevent the completion of the academic year or final exams.

Price said that he is willing to put additional measures in place, such as weekend classes and exam dates.

He maintains that shutting down campus is a worst case scenario which would have severe consequences for students and staff.

Qualifying graduates in fields such as law, medicine and accounting will be most affected by a shut down of the academic year, Fisher explains.

The university will also lose income if the students have to come back next year, because they won't be able to charge students returning to write exams and will be oversubscribed.

Shamiela Fisher, EWN reporter

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