BQA, DDT At Loggerheads Over FD Students
Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday November 5, 2018 15:38
The two Bachelor of Doctor Assistant students who were due to complete their studies next year reported to the BQA that they had been unfairly treated following a strike that took place at the institution earlier in the year. The two students and others were in February expelled from the College for participating in a strike.
“The students filed a complaint with BQA challenging the decision and BQA investigated only to find that the students should have not been expelled.
They were reinstated and the two were victimised resulting in them getting FD while they had seen their marks showing that they had passed. They once again reported the matter to BQA who ordered for their immediate reinstatement,” a source said.
In a letter seen by The Monitor addressed to the students by BQA on September 14, 2018, the authority states that they carried out investigation on the complaint laid by the students on July 6, 2018, and the institution failed to justify the results.
“Please be informed that the ETP failed to give a valid justification to the authority for having awarded FD results as well as a valid assessment policy which was used to process the assessments in question. Therefore, the FD results awarded to you by DDT College of Medicine were nullified,” Sandra Pabalinga wrote on behalf of BQA.
Pabalinga informed the students that BQA had instructed that the ETP reinstate them immediately. BQA spokesperson, Selwana Koppenhaver confirmed that they have instructed the college to reinstate the students.
She however said the College is appealing the decision while they, as BQA, maintain that the students should be re-instated. “The due legal process of handling institutional complaints is being followed to ensure that this matter is closed with the best interest of the learners as the guiding principle. BQA is aware that the students are not yet back in class and that they are losing out on time. Once the process of handling complaints is completed, arrangements will be made to compensate for the lost learning time.”
The College is steadfast that they would not allow BQA to push them into admitting students who failed into their school.
“We are guided by our policies in school. The students know that there are channels they should follow when querying their marks, but they chose to escalate the issue to the BQA.
The students have failed and they have to re- apply after three trimesters. We are dealing with lives of humankind and we cannot be seen to be allowing students who attained under 60% to continue in class,” the college chancellor, Dr Derrick Tlhoiwe said.
Tlhoiwe also refuted claims that the students were being victimised after they were reinstated following their expulsion from school. “It was us as the institution that reinstated them after they were expelled. They had followed due processes and were given another chance. Out of the seven students who got FD, they were the only two who had been expelled and reinstated. Why would we target only them?” he said.