media releases - UNISA aware of registration problems

Unisa was aware of the frustrations and delays many students were experiencing, and appreciated that thousands had to exercise patience in waiting for their registrations to be completed and to receive their study material.

Prof Barney Pityana, Unisa’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor, expressed this at the opening of the academic year on the main campus in Pretoria.

Notwithstanding many teething problems, like inadequate bandwidth for the high volumes of usage, logistical arrangements in a building not wholly complete, the challenge of students turning up to register regardless of the plan for pre-registration processes, and, of course, the higher number of students who qualified for degree studies this year (resulting in some students being surprised, and others discovering that residential universities of their choice were now requiring higher grades for admission) 60 248 students registered through the central admissions office and 30 230 registered through Unisa, he said.

There were 52 550 online registrations and 49 081 students utilised the Self-Help stations provided at Unisa’s centres. 187 582 students have now registered through the new process.

“The system registered a total of 187 582 students this session. Of these 51 867 were new students and 121 677 returning students. The total number of registrations therefore is currently 170 243 plus 69 188 temporary registrations. It is evident to us that the system has been able to carry a huge load of registrations better than anything previously possible.

“We pay tribute to the students who were able to utilise the smart registration mechanism. We thank parents and prospective students for their patience as they had to stand in long queues, for which we apologise. We also thank our army of staff who attended to this task with so much dedication and efficiency,” Prof Pityana said.

Students experiencing problems are invited to email: service@unisa.ac.za or write to Service Complaints Desk, Unisa, PO Box 392, Pretoria, 0003. Please include student number, contact details and details of problem.