Talking Stick - November/December 2018 - 33

anything in life, definite challenges
are associated with student support
in residences, especially in the South
African context where the needs of
students from many diverse cultural
and ethnic groups have to be respected
and accommodated. In particular, staff
who provide support to students need
sufficient knowledge of the impact of
cultural differences so they can avoid
aggravating a problem instead of alleviating it.
Given the situation after 1994,
when the country moved from
apartheid to majority rule, it's not
surprising that more and more firstgeneration students have decided
to pursue higher education. They
come from diverse backgrounds,
sometimes lack the life skills they
need to succeed at university, and
have to make the transition from
being supported to becoming the one
who supports. In this regard, UP's
Department of Residence Affairs and
Accommodation (TuksRes) focuses
on implementing an integrated process whereby leaders can be trained
to be sensitive to the needs of firstgeneration students, both in terms of
their academic performance and their
emotional well-being. Another diversity challenge is created by classism,
a situation where some students have
everything they need or want, while
others are not so fortunate. Living
with a roommate who has everything
and being surrounded by friends who
do not share one's social standard
can be devastating.
South Africa has 11 official languages. Many first-year students attended
schools where only their mother
tongue was used, and English was
often their second or third language.
When they arrive at university, they
struggle to overcome language barriers
in order to reach the level of proficiency required for tertiary education.

OVER THE YEARS, ITS
RESIDENCES HAVE
BECOME HOLISTIC
LIVING SPACES, AND
THE UNIVERSITY
HAS INCREASINGLY
FOCUSED ON
STUDENTS' WELLBEING IN A HOLISTIC
WAY, WHICH
INCLUDES PROVIDING
ACADEMIC, SOCIAL,
PERSONAL, AND EVEN
EMOTIONAL SUPPORT.

tire family depends on the income of
one family member. The bottom line
is that they can afford very little. Some
of them use the money they receive for
meals and textbooks to help support
their families back home. As a result,
they go hungry and subsequently do
not perform well academically, which
may mean that they cannot continue
their studies the following year. Many
students also come from rural communities where they have had no exposure to basic infrastructure. They are
often introduced to information and
communication technologies for the
first time when they enter university.
Much of UP's tuition payment process
is done online, so a lack of technological skills immediately impedes their
integration into the academic environment.

Furthermore, when they are under
pressure, they find it extremely difficult to express feelings like homesickness in English. When they are
not understood, they experience even
more frustration, which increases the
feeling of helplessness instead of alleviating it.

There are also social challenges.
The number of HIV/AIDS orphans in
South Africa is increasing. They have
no support structures at home and often have the additional burden of supporting their siblings and dying family
members, but lack the income to do
so. Furthermore, as at all higher education institutions, the excessive use of
alcohol and so-called social drugs is
a reality among many students, who
confuse addiction with socially acceptable behavior. More often than not,
this has tragic outcomes.

There are financial challenges as
well. Many students at UP rely solely
on financial aid, and a number of
academically deserving students are
supported through a governmentsupported funding scheme that pays
for their tuition, accommodation, and
limited meals. Although this gives
these students an excellent opportunity
to study, they often arrive at residence
with little clothing, no bedding, and no
cash. They are often the first-born of
the family, orphans, from single-parent
homes, or from a home where the en-

Staff who support vulnerable
students face a number of challenges.
Limitations in resources and staff often prevent the full implementation of
intervention models, and students who
need help must face the reality that
staff cannot always be readily available outside normal office hours and
beyond the office environment. When
establishing an emotional support
structure for students who live in residences, it is important to distinguish
between immediate responses and
ongoing, intermediate, and advanced

NOVEMBER + DECEMBER 2018

Talking Stick - November/December 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Talking Stick - November/December 2018