Few Photocopiers Frustrate Students

Janette Katiti

28 April 2011

Windhoek — Photocopying of academic materials at the University of Namibia (Unam) has become a major problem for students.

Printing and photocopying could be regarded as petty but thousands of students at Unam get stranded each day because they cannot print their assignments or notes on time. This results in students being penalized.

Printouts are often needed for students’ assignments and interestingly, lecturers deduct up to five percent off their marks for each day that their assignments are late, complain various students.

The problem is compounded by the fact that Unam currently accommodates an estimated of 12 000 part-time and fulltime students, the majority of whom rely on the services of the very few printing facilities on campus.

Unam has made provision for printing and photocopying through the Student Corner and Copy Centre on Campus.

Students however allege the Copy Centre has no consistent working hours.

“They are almost never there, sometimes they come at 11.am and by 2 pm they are gone,” one student said about the operating hours of the Copy Centre.

A third year media student stated that when the Student Corner opened daily, they were “very fast and effective and were a great help to the students at all times”.

But when visiting the Student Corner last week, this reporter found the place closed without notice as to why it was closed.

Student Corner is run by the Student Representative Council (SRC) and is managed by the SRC for Finance.

According to a source inside the SRC offices, they are reluctant to address issues that might bring circumstances of the Student Corner to light, but are aware of the student’s complaints and concerns and are working on them.

Students also complained that “super slow” employees who have no regard for time run the Copy Centre.

“I think Copy Centre try their best, but they are understaffed and need more staff members to accommodate the large number of students who rely on their services to get their schoolwork done,” was a final year’s accounting student’s opinion on the Copy Centre’s efficiency.

Natashca Murorua, a third year Business Administration student was not impressed with the Copy Centre, when approached by New Era.

“Firstly it’s slow, I stood there a long time and every time I got to the front it closed. For three days in a row, I had to stand in line and it’s too small and the people that work there are rude to the students, whether paying cash or using cards. To improve the center, they need to move to a bigger space and hire students that work in shifts as well as extending the working hours,” said Murorua.

When visiting the Copy Centre, more than 40 students were seen in a queue with only two attendees manning the Copy Centre.

The Copy Centre has seven printing and photocopying machines that cater for 7000 students that directly rely on the centre’s services.

This journalist approached the Unam SRC for Information and Publicity, who in return referred the reporter to the Unam spokesperson, Utaara Hoveka. He was unavailable for comment.

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