STUDENTS at Erdiston Teachers Training College who are due to graduate this month, are breathing a sigh of relief since they will not be required to participate in the recently implemented Give Back Programme.
The initiative, which was devised by Government, requires students at tertiary institutions who are benefiting from Government’s payment of tuition fees, to give back a set number of hours in community service per year.
It must be completed before they graduate and students who enroll but do not sign up, would have to repay every cent of the tuition fee.
The Give Back Programme came into effect on February 23 and while it has been lauded by many, several students were caught off guard and unprepared.
A student at the college told the DAILY NATION that many of them were not aware of it.
“They were telling us that we have to put in 150 hours for full-time students and 100 hours for part-time students. We felt as if we were being threatened that if we did not do it, we would have to repay the Government.
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