Dear colleagues
I hope you are well. It has been quite a year and we are all looking forward to a break.
On 4 October, Senate approved the Framework for Teaching and Learning in 2022. The Framework takes into account an assessment of the difficulties encountered by staff and students with physically distanced learning during 2021; and the possibility of increasing contact teaching on campus, as a result of the availability of vaccines. The basic elements of the Framework are:
The management of UCT venues and the timetable under pandemic conditions is not an easy task. We are working with the faculties, the Office of the Registrar and the Properties & Services Department to satisfy all faculties’ needs for venue allocations according to their pedagogic choices. Faculties are expected to submit teaching plans by 1 December.
In the context of the pandemic, the already growing prevalence of mental health presentations in all populations has increased further. Isolation, loss, and poor health have had a deleterious impact on people’s general wellbeing in every country and have been acutely felt amongst students and staff in our own context.
For this reason, I encourage each of us to exercise more than your normal amount of patience towards both colleagues and students; to think twice before we respond out of stress and fatigue to the requests for assistance we will undoubtedly receive. I appeal to your sense of compassion particularly in dealing with individual student cases. Responding with generosity and empathy can make a positive difference in your life as well as theirs.
It has been a very long road for everybody, and we still have some way to go. You have been fantastic in delivering education under incredibly trying conditions, and in contributing to our planning for 2022. Council discussed the proposal on vaccinations at UCT in 2022, and further updates regarding this will be shared in due course through the usual post-Council communication channel. Thank you for your fortitude.
Take care of yourselves.
Warm regards
Associate Professor Lis Lange
Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning
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COVID-19 is a global pandemic that caused President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare a national disaster in South Africa on 15 March 2020 and to implement a national lockdown from 26 March 2020. UCT is taking the threat of infection in our university community extremely seriously, and this page will be updated with the latest COVID-19 information. Please note that the information on this page is subject to change depending on current lockdown regulations.
Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, has in June 2022 repealed some of South Africa’s remaining COVID-19 regulations: namely, sections 16A, 16B and 16C of the Regulations Relating to the Surveillance and the Control of Notifiable Medical Conditions under the National Health Act. We are now no longer required to wear masks or limit gatherings. Venue restrictions and checks for travellers coming into South Africa have now also been removed.
On Wednesday, 20 July, staff from the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Faculty of Health Sciences came together with representatives from the Western Cape Government at the UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre at Forest Hill Residence to acknowledge the centre’s significance in the fight against COVID-19 and to thank its staff for their contributions. The centre opened on 1 September 2021 with the aim of providing quality vaccination services to UCT staff, students and the nearby communities, as well as to create an opportunity for medical students from the Faculty of Health Sciences to gain practical public health skills. The vaccination centre ceased operations on Friday, 29 July 2022.
With the closure of the UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre, if you still require access to a COVID-19 vaccination site please visit the CovidComms SA website to find an alternative.
“After almost a year of operation, the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Community of Hope Vaccination Centre, located at the Forest Hill residence complex in Mowbray, will close on Friday, 29 July 2022. I am extremely grateful and proud of all staff, students and everyone involved in this important project.”
– Vice-Chancellor Prof Mamokgethi PhakengWith the closure of the UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre, if you still require access to a COVID-19 vaccination site please visit the CovidComms SA website to find an alternative.
UCT’s Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM) collaborated with Global Citizen, speaking to trusted experts to dispel vaccine misinformation.
If you have further questions about the COVID-19 vaccine check out the FAQ produced by the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation (DTHF). The DTHF has developed a dedicated chat function where you can ask your vaccine-related questions on the bottom right hand corner of the website.
IDM YouTube channel | IDM website
“As a contact university, we look forward to readjusting our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in 2023 as the COVID-19 regulations have been repealed.”
– Prof Harsha Kathard, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning
We are continuing to monitor the situation and we will be updating the UCT community regularly – as and when there are further updates. If you are concerned or need more information, students can contact the Student Wellness Service on 021 650 5620 or 021 650 1271 (after hours), while staff can contact 021 650 5685.