By Refilwe Mphirime
Premier, Dr Zamani Saul launched the Northern Cape post-graduate support group on 30 November at the Legislature.
Dr Saul highlighted two problems that postgraduates encounter: delayed completion of their chosen course and withdrawal from the programme, caused by lack of support.
“The purpose of this initiation is simple because this is a lonely journey. We want peers to collaborate, take away the element of isolation and give fellow students support. I established my support group while studying. The groups compliment the work done by supervisors. Most postgraduates are part-time students due to lack of support structures such as finances,” mentioned Saul.
The Premier added, “We could meet once a month for about two to three hours and in every meeting, postgraduates will be encouraged to share their research and be given non-judgemental feedback.”
Dr Lebogang Moremedi, one of the attendees said, “This initiative will be helpful to students from the Northern Cape. There are a lot of rules and regulations, I suggest we invite influential people in that regard for advice.”
The Premier reiterated, “This group is independent of the premier’s office and the government. Before I was the premier I was a student.”
Professor Baxen from the University of Sol Plaatje stated, “research is a systematic enquiry made public. It is important to consider the ethics of our research. Do research that leaves people better than how you found them. My advice would be to diversify, find a problem and get a team. I strongly urge collaborative research from various views.”
The students formed a support group and vowed to communicate daily. They also pledged to give the Premier regular feedback.
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