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The Law Student Wellbeing Fund was introduced at the year-end function of the Faculty of Law on 1 November in Potchefstroom. Present at the gala dinner are faculty staff members (at the back from left) Prof Wian Erlank and Prof Henk Klopper. In front from left are Gabrielle Dewey and Rolien Roos.
An auction of wine and drawings such as these done by children in the North West Province was part of the programme during the Law Faculty’s gala dinner. The proceeds from the auction, as well as from the sale of admission tickets for the evening, will go towards their Law Student Wellbeing Fund.
The directorate Student Life is also running various projects across our campuses, for instance the Meal a Day project, to support needy students.
Law Faculty launches wellbeing fund
Life is hard for students who do not have proper accommodation, who often attend lectures on an empty stomach and have to study without the basic academic needs to ensure success.
This is the harsh reality for more students across the country than we know.
The NWU’s Faculty of Law is calling on businesses, alumni and members of the community to donate towards the recently launched Law Student Wellbeing Fund. The fund aims to make life a little easier for financially struggling law students across the three campuses by assisting them with their extracurricular needs.
According to Prof Stephen de la Harpe, the faculty’s executive dean, the fund was established after the faculty administered a survey asking students about their wellbeing and extracurricular needs.
A total of 243 students responded, 77% of whom stated that they face financial or resource-related challenges that impact their wellbeing and studies. The students indicated that their main issues are food and groceries, prescribed textbooks, accommodation, transport, printing costs and IT resources (both hardware and data).
The fund is managed by a panel of academics from the three campuses who report to the executive dean and will liaise with the Law Students’ Council.
See how they stress
These are some of the responses received in an anonymous survey, in which law students were asked about their well-being and extra-curricular needs:
“The extra financial stress diverts my attention away from my studies... It would be nice to have one less factor to stress about.”
“If I do not have money to go home regularly, my depression becomes worse and my overall performance and willingness to study become less.”
“I cannot study when I'm hungry. I need energy to study. As for textbooks, I perform poorly as there are limited textbooks at the library to take home.”
“I have one pair of tekkies and I don’t know who to tell. I can’t tell my parents; it will only stress them more.”
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Sponsors wishing to make a donation can use the following banking details:
NWU
Absa Bank
Account Number: 670640086
Branch code: 632005
Cheque account
Reference nr: 2B02499/name of business
If you need a Section 18A Tax certificate, please let us know at law@nwu.ac.za. For more information about the fund, click here.