NATIONAL NEWS - University of South Africa (Unisa) students are taking to social media in a desperate plea to gain access to the online portal used to submit their assignments.
For almost a week, students have struggled to submit their work, and with deadlines looming and almost no communication from the institution, the frustration is palpable.
Technical difficulties
First year BA Environmental Management student Paula Schreuder said she received an SMS last Wednesday notifying her of “intermittent challenges” on the 2022 “myModule sites”.
'We didn't sign up for this': Unisa students at wits' end after assignment portal bombs
The only communication from Unisa so far. Photo: Supplied
Since then, no further communication has been received.
Senior Unisa media officer Edgar Rathelele told The Citizen to his knowledge, the portal had only been giving issues over the past two days.
He confirmed Unisa was aware of the issue, but that he still awaited feedback from technical teams on when issues would be resolved.
Schreuder speculated it was likely an influx of traffic due to failed attempts at submitting work that was bogging the system down.
She said it took hours for her to submit an assignment, which she only managed to do by refreshing the portal until someone else’s connection failed.
Many of the modules are also fully online, including study materials. When the portal is down, no online resources can be accessed, which means students also cannot study in advance.
Some assignments also have time limits, adding further pressure for students to submit on time.
March and April is crunch time for students to submit assignments before exams start.
“People have missed deadlines, and there is no communication regarding extensions.”
It is not yet clear if or how students will be who missed their deadlines due to the portal shutdown will be compensated.
