General Section
Dear students, parents, staff and friends of
the Belgium Campus ITversity community,
We may have addressed some of you on occasions
such as the academic opening, graduation, or any
other event; however, we do not often reach out
to the entire Belgium Campus community directly.
But the current situation calls for such a
communication. The COVID-19 pandemic has had
such an impact that we feel we must reach out to
you now.
The global and disastrous impact of the virus
has necessitated the implementation of several
political measures in our country, which have a
great impact on our higher education
institution. Sadly enough, we all witness how
this sinister virus is impacting our families,
our friends, our communities, our very own way
of life. None of us are left untouched, and it
hurts to see how our prosperous campus life has
come to a complete standstill.
It is not the first time that we highlight the
importance of your trust, your contribution and
your support and we are thankful for that.
During these difficult times we ask for your
help to cope with the uncertainties of the
current situation. We are facing a daunting task
to tackle the problems and prepare for the
emergence of an entirely new global system,
while we remain optimistic that our world will
thrive once again.
We would therefore like to inform you that for a
start we have adopted a policy of full
compliance with the government’s directives.
Although we find ourselves in times of
emergency, we shall continue to stick to our
values of academic integrity, inclusiveness,
equal treatment, truthfulness, character
building and self-reliance through transparency,
factual dialogue and fact-driven decisions. It’s
time for facts, not fear. CNN started the ‘Facts
First’ campaign and defined it well: “In a time
of uncertainty, facts provide clarity; in a time
of anxiety, facts comfort; in a time of
misinformation, facts correct; in a time of
division, facts unite; in a time of crisis,
facts matter most.”
Some countries are advocating the so-called
‘herd immunity’ strategy, whereby group-immunity
is built up through a policy of the ‘survival of
the fittest’. In addition to the fact that it is
opposed by the WHO and many reputable
epidemiologists, this strategy goes against the
Belgium Campus’s values of inclusiveness and
solidarity with the disadvantaged.
We have had no choice but to close our campuses
as part of the lockdown measures set out by the
government to contain the virus. Consequently,
we decided to optimize the use of information
and communication technology (ICT) and deliver
our programmes online. However, the process of
shifting to virtual teaching and learning is
easier said than done. The shift clearly exposes
the digital divide within our country, its
education institutions, and the students at
these institutions. Some are far better equipped
than others, and internet access remains a
problem.
Like most other higher education institutions,
we were fast to respond to this disruptive
crisis. For many institutions, this situation
will further complicate the existing challenges,
including budgetary inadequacies, systemic
inefficiencies, low adoption of technology, and
low capacity to generate funds internally.
Public institutions may eventually receive
assistance from the state to overcome the
consequences of COVID-19. We as a private
not-for-profit institution, have to operate with
a business model that is heavily dependent on
tuition fees and corporate funding for survival.
As an ICT institution we have risen to the
occasion and promptly have taken the opportunity
to improve and maximize our ICT operation by
investing heavily in new infrastructure to keep
up with the rapidly changing global educational
landscape in a successful way. We consider this
threat, as well as the approaches to overcome
it, as the catalyst for long-lasting changes
which should enable us to successfully complete
our mission and vision as one of the private key
players in the South African educational
landscape.
Let us unite, open our mind and touch
heart
As we have entered a lockdown period of several
weeks, we would like to take this time to
reflect and thank all members of the Belgium
Campus community for their continued cooperation
and support during these difficult times. It is
only as a result of this dedication and
commitment that we are able to cope and prepare
for the future.
Thank you to our students and their parents for
understanding the severity of the situation and
for allowing us to comply with the government’s
order to close our campus, including vacating
our residential facilities. We realize that this
was not a simple issue, particularly for
residence students whose parents or relatives
had to travel a great distance on such short
notice. Your cooperation does not go unnoticed;
it is greatly appreciated.
Thank you to our support, admin and academic
staff who continue to go above and beyond their
duty in preparing for the lockdown. We are
grateful for your continued hard work and
dedication to provide our students with the
quality education they deserve. Without your
efforts, we would not be able to make the
necessary provisions to save the academic year
by providing online classes.
To all our staff who must stay home out of
necessity, thank you for your understanding. We
still count on all of you when the situation
gets back to normal.
Lastly, we would like to thank our security team
who have continued to keep our campuses safe.
Your task is extremely important, especially
during this time of increased risk
Let us, in hardship, prepare for an
extraordinary destiny
What we are facing is, simply put, daunting. The
disruption of our lives is unprecedented, proven
by the fact that we receive many heart-breaking
messages of growing worries. It takes time and
patience to respond and finetune everything for
each of our individual community members. We see
some students struggling financially, with
parents becoming temporarily unemployed and
students losing their student jobs, all having
trouble making ends meet.
While we do not always know the full extent of
these problems, we are pushing our boundaries
and doing everything we can to help. As
difficult as it has been and still is for all of
us, we stand together. Our organisation is built
on strong foundations and traditions of service.
At its heart is our staff who care passionately
about Belgium Campus, our stakeholders, and the
nation we serve. If you are in doubt, or
experience a growing sense of frustration,
contact us via email or our website https://www.belgiumcampus.ac.za/Contact-Us-Main.html.
Let us be informed rather than
opinionated
At Belgium Campus, we value the principle that
sharing factual information makes one feel
valued. In times of crisis, the transparency,
quality of information, and how well informed
our community members are, is of paramount
importance.
Our on-going COVID-19 communication makes sure
that many of you will have certain knowledge
about the measures that Belgium Campus has had
to take to comply with the government’s
directives. However, you may be looking for more
confirmation. You might want to know more about
the why, the what, and the how. For this
purpose, we have created a specific information
platform on our website at https://www.belgiumcampus.ac.za/News/Main/COVID-19.html.
You can read about the operational impact of the
closure, how we are investing hugely for the
future, how we will continue with online
teaching and learning, how we will organise
assessments and exams, and how we will guide and
coach you through these disrupting times.
Additionally, there you can find information on
how to take care of your health and mental
well-being in isolation, and how to study and
learn remotely.
We had to reorganise the academic year under the
assumption that the exams in June can still be
organised on our campuses. However, we need to
prepare for online exams as a
worst-case-scenario. If we are allowed to
organise exams on campus, we will still need to
adhere to the rules of good hygiene practice and
social distancing, which will complicate things.
In order to fit everything in an achievable
calendar, we have to extend the June examination
period with one week, reduce winter recess by
one week, and add an additional week to the
final quarter, with study leave and examinations
starting one week later. More information is
available on our website, which will regularly
be updated.
Let us rise to the occasion by lifting
other
As we entered the 21-day lockdown, politicians
shared a message of unity to all South Africans,
but what does this mean for a country riven with
inequalities? With the country in lockdown for
several weeks, the need for virtual learning was
boosted. Unfortunately, this boost was
confronted by the concerns of a widening digital
divide. Further, Equal Education’s General
Secretary, Ms Noncedo Madubedube, cautioned that
online education is not the sole answer to
ensuring that teaching and learning continue in
a scenario where institutions’ closures are
prolonged.
Consequently, the Belgium Campus community has
been left with the uneasiness of not knowing
when educational institutions will be allowed to
reopen and what the educational landscape will
look like after the COVID-19 crisis. All of this
calls for alternative forms of guidance and
support.
We are impressed on how our staff was able to
implement the digital move of our campuses by
building the necessary infrastructure and the
development of online teaching materials.
Everyone involved - lecturers, supporting staff
and students – deserves utmost praise, respect
and admiration. However, as mentioned before,
this kind of unpredicted and hurried transition
can never be perfect. Online teaching and
learning are not as easy as the simple posting
of a lecture’s notes online or by making
available a video recording of the lecture.
Although this may be, for the time being, the
only solution, we are currently investing in the
pedagogical training of our lecturers for
delivering online programmes. We are also
investing in the immediate updating of our
learning material, according to the
methodologies of professional online
instructional design. This, in turn, will allow
for our students to be equally exposed to the
pedagogy of online learning.
Additionally, in agreement with Ms Noncedo
Madubedube, not all knowledge and skills,
particularly ‘soft skills’, can be taught over
the internet, e.g. communication skills,
personal initiative, ability to work in teams,
etc. As soon as the lockdown is lifted, we plan
to adopt a blended or hybrid teaching and
learning approach, and this together with our
current extensive network of businesses. For
now, we will continue to test the resilience of
the various tools and technologies used for
virtual education, and provide our students with
the needed skills and attitudes. In the midterm,
we will solve the challenges in delivering
online programmes which require practical
experimentation. In the long term, we should
have further diversified our virtual content and
invested in additional infrastructure to create
an augmented virtual learning environment. At
the end, face-to-face education is here to stay
at Belgium Campus.
Finally, we would like to emphasise our
intention of keeping education inclusive.
Building a virtual classroom for everybody
requires the availability of a laptop (not
smartphone) for each student, as well as
constant power supply and the availability of
broadband internet services at a cheaper rate.
While some students will have the capacity to
move to virtual education, there are concerns
that many might be left behind. It is true that
this generation was born seeing the world
through the lens of a cell phone, but not every
student has a device adequate for learning or
indeed access to the internet – a harsh reality.
Solving this problem will need an all-inclusive
approach that involves all stakeholders,
government, private sector and educational
institutions, working in partnership to ensure
that each student has a laptop or tablet and
internet services for uninterrupted teaching and
learning, and scholarly work. We have reached
out to the government, network providers and
business to zero-rate our online platform and to
provide students in need with devices. But we
cannot wait, and will, for those who are not
connected, provide the opportunity to catch up
after the lockdown, including extending the
academic calendar, thereby adding extra tuition
hours for learners and lecturers.
At Belgium Campus ITversity, it is our belief
that education is a lot more than online
learning only. We try to preserve Belgium Campus
as a ‘living community’, the way it was before,
so that nobody has to miss out on the quality of
our offers and services. Notwithstanding the
supportive network of family and friends, which
is of vital importance, we encourage our
students to stay actively connected socially as
much as possible in trying to escape from the
isolation or looming loneliness. We encourage
them to make active use of discussion forums or
chat sessions to assimilate what they have
learned together with their classmates, to use
the guidance offered by faculty, and contact
their counsellors in case of doubt. On our
website, students can find guidance on different
essential issues, such as how to manage their
health and safety when they work at home.
Additionally, as we have said above, we also
provide guidance on different essential issues
in overcoming this crisis, such as strategies on
safeguarding health and mental well-being when
working at home, on efficient working and remote
learning, on organising a daily schedule, and on
working securely online when off campus.
We are dedicated to keeping our Belgium Campus
community connected and alive. Our community is
one that assures that nobody has to miss out on
the opportunity to finish his academic year
successfully.
Dear students and parents, the challenges ahead
of us are enormous, and please realise that we
are embarking on a long journey. You can count
on our commitment and dedication to increase
access to high-quality education, and we are
even re-imagining both the possibilities and the
opportunities of online learning for our
learners. In return we rely on your motivation
to get started and your commitment to keep us
going in our search for solutions. We are
inspired by the words of Mr Thabo Mbeki, former
President of South Africa:
“We will continue to count on your unwavering
support and commitment … in bringing about the
desired renaissance of Africa.”
Commitment is the glue that bonds us to our
goals in overcoming this COVID-19 crisis. We
don’t know when it will be, but when life
returns to normal it will be in a new world.
Nevertheless, once cleared for take-off again,
it will be exciting. Families will be reunited,
students will return, and our campuses will
become vibrant once more. And when they do, we
will be ready, to teach and serve. Please
continue to visit our website
https://www.belgiumcampus.ac.za/ for the most
up-to-date information including a full
breakdown of frequently asked questions. Please,
bear in mind that this is a fast-changing
situation. We will update these FAQs as further
information becomes available.
Stay safe, and follow the precautionary measures
outlined by the World Health Organization and
the National Institute for Communicable Diseases
to mitigate the spread of the virus.
Warm regards,
Enrico M. Jacobs
CEO
In the wake of the COVID-19 (coronavirus)
pandemic, the South African Government announced
several precautionary measures to mitigate the
spread of the virus in protecting public health.
One of these was originally the requirement that
from March 18 until April 15, all schools and
higher education institutions should close.
Meanwhile, this measure has been extended to
April 30.
In these unprecedented times, the health and
well-being of staff and students is a priority
for BC ITversity’s executive management. In
support of the Government, BC ITversity has
adopted a policy of full compliance with all
the Government requirements, advice and
guidance and will continue to do so as
things can change rapidly. Further updates on
closures will be posted online and communicated
to all students and staff as they arise.
We are monitoring the situation closely and we
will continue to provide as much advise, care
and support as possible to our BC ITversity
community via email and on this webpage. See
below a full breakdown of frequently asked
question for the different management domains
which we are constantly updating.
Please, keep checking your email updates.
Should you, a student or staff member, be
diagnosed with COVID-19, you are required to
inform us immediately. Also, if a staff
member or a student informs you that they
have been diagnosed with COVID-19, please
inform Belgium Campus ITversity know
immediately by contacting us on 010 593
5368.
General FAQ |
---|
Closure of the BC ITversity campus - Following the address by President Cyril Ramaphosa and as a precautionary measure BC ITversity took the proactive decision to suspend all classes and assessments during lockdown on March 16 until April 30, 2020. Considering the severity of this worldwide pandemic it is most likely that the lockdown will be extended.
Learning & teaching – Face-to-face teaching is suspended until further notice. Teaching and assessment will continue remotely and students are urged to participate fully in order to minimize the disruption to the academic year. BC ITversity has implemented 14 virtual studios to ensure that online classes can start on Wednesday 15th in the event we are unable to resume face-to-face teaching.
Working remotely – BC ITversity staff are required to work from home until further notice, except for some essential services as defined by the Government Directives.
Public health – Staff and students are urged to exercise caution and follow the public health guidelines rigorously, everywhere and at all times.
Residences – Students in residence are urged to go home. The BC residences remain open for some students who for exceptional reasons cannot return home. They need to rigorously conform to the specific precautionary measures implemented by BC ITversity for its residences (see section on ‘Accommodations FAQs’)
The terms of this lockdown include the closure of all companies that are not essential to the production and transport of food, basic goods and medical supplies. However, companies who can continue their operations remotely have been encouraged to do so.
Since all tertiary institutions were due to reopen on April 16, according to Minister Blade Nzimande’s announcement on March 17, the Department of Higher Education, Science and Technology announced that tertiary institutions should prepare to switch to remote teaching — a solution that is still unfamiliar territory.
In compliance, BC ITversity Executive Management has decided to fully opt for online teaching and online classes commenced on April 15 as previously communicated (see ‘BC COVID-19 Communication 6’).
On April 9 President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the extension of coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown to at least the end of April. However, it's not clear with a pandemic of this scale how everything can miraculously return to normal. Globally, experts disagree on how long it could take to fully lift the restrictions on daily life. Several expert sources expect that they will remain at least another six months and lifting them will certainly be a gradual process. It looks like we will need to prepare for the long haul.
Further information and logistical arrangements will be communicated to students and parents via email and will also be available on the students’ online portal and through Microsoft Teams and this website.
In full compliance, BC ITversity Executive Management has taken the proactive decision to suspend all classes and assessments already on Monday, March 16, and close the residences on Friday, March 20, both until further notice.
Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on April 9 the extension of coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown to at least the end of April.
Please check regularly your email for updated information and other BC ITversity information channels.
Department | Contact Information |
---|---|
Academic | Theodorus Kritzinger - kritzinger.t@belgiumcampus.ac.za |
Registrar | Elaine van Wyk - vanwyk.e@belgiumcampus.ac.za |
Human Resources | Lettitia Van Der Merwe - vandermerwe.l@belgiumcampus.ac.za |
Accounts | Hezanne van der Merwe - vandermerwe.h@belgiumcampus.ac.za |
Health & Safety | Taylor Janse van Rensburg - jvrensburg.t@belgiumcampus.ac.za |
Support Services | Xolisile Ntuli - ntuli.x@belgiumcampus.ac.za |
Technical Support | support@belgiumcampus.ac.za |
IT Support | Francois F. Venter - venter.f@belgiumcampus.ac.za |
Registrations | admissions@belgiumcampus.ac.za |
Counselling | Alisha Narine -
narine.a@belgiumcampus.ac.za
Zwonaka Netshikwati - netshikawi.z@belgiumcampus.ac.za Dr. Gerard Steyn – steyn.gtg@belgiumcampus.ac.za |
General Inquiries | info@belgiumcampus.ac.za |