NEWS

REPRESENTATION FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

By Emily Heyward (she/her)

Students with disabilities will finally be represented within the UCSA’s club scene, with a social support club set to be established this semester.

UCSA exec member Leo He says there is not enough social support for students with disabilities at UC so is setting up the ‘University of Canterbury Disabled Students’ Association’ to help address the issue.

“I feel it is quite important … Students are academically supported thanks to the services but there needs to be more social support for students.”

He wants to create a safe space where students with disabilities can connect with each other and discuss the challenges they are facing, as there is currently no club specifically dedicated to students with disabilities.

“The first step basically for me is [creating] a foundation and for me, getting people on board and for me, connections.

“There’s a lot of stigma around being disabled and being a burden on society so people don’t really reach out for help.”

While the ‘University of Canterbury Disabled Students’ Association’ will be officially recognised as a club, He hopes there will be a disabled students’ association set up in the future.

“The road to association is a bit complicated. This is our dream, but I don’t think the association will happen, not until a couple of years later.” He says establishing a dedicated student’s association would ensure students with disabilities are better represented within the education system.

“There is a need for a disabled students’ association … People with impairment I think have the potential of doing as well or more well as abled students, but the current system will make it difficult for students to succeed.”

Last semester, He held a focus group for students to get together and talk about what needed improving on campus, and about what they would like to see come out of establishing a club.

UCSA president Kim Fowler says establishing a club is a positive move for students with disabilities.

“We think it would be cool to see this feed into the advocacy structures the UCSA already has, like the Equity and Wellbeing advisory group and to see if this works for disabled students. It would be great for disabled students to have a club on campus that runs events for them.”

A Statistics NZ report released last year found that people with disabilities are more likely to experience loneliness and discrimination than non-disabled people.

NEWS

STUCK OVERSEAS DURING A PANDEMIC

By Emily Heyward (she/her)

About 17 months after he was supposed to return from his summer holiday visiting friends and family in Tianjin, China, international student Jacob Hou has finally made it back to New Zealand.

The past year and a half have been tough. From having the border shut on him just days before he was due to return to Christchurch, to being scammed out of thousands of dollars by a fake airline company, and not knowing when he would be able to return to campus, if ever. And that’s not mentioning the challenges of studying online, via distance, and in a country where the likes of Google and Facebook are banned.

“The internet issues are always there as well. We cannot do anything about it. There are certain sites that’s hard to visit in UC. They set up a VPN for you but it’s not reliable.”

He describes the past year and a half of his life as “dramatic” and “miserable”.

“The struggle is real. It’s so real. You can’t even imagine. Even myself I can’t even imagine what just happened in the past one and a half year.”

Hou has been studying electrical and electronic engineering from an apartment in the “bustling” centre of Tianjin. But trying to study in a massive apartment complex where you can’t tell which neighbours are making all the noise, has been difficult, he says.

And studying takes a whole lot longer when you’re doing it online, he explains, especially when you’re in a different time zone and having to wait days for a response.

“Sometimes my one-hour lecture … it just feels like it’s just double or triple the timeline.” At times, he felt like giving up.

“Even me as a Christian, last year was too much. Sometimes even questioning my faith, is it worth it. What should I do? Sometimes I had no idea.”

He says the lack of support and communication from some departments and services at UC added to his stress.

“They signed up for me a student mentor, but we only get to talk once. He never tried to talk to me again.”

He says teaching staff need to improve communication with distance students, otherwise international students will start pulling out of study.

“I get quite exhausted to do my part, trying to communicate. I think it would be helpful if passing on my concern or my questions they can answer you a bit quicker and also other department will know it as well to give you support accordingly. I think that would be great.

But he’s pleased to be back in New Zealand. Hou is currently on “day five or maybe day six” of his 14-day stay in managed isolation and is looking forward to being able to attend lectures in person again and enjoy a sense of normality.

Last year the Government announced that 82 UC students, that were stuck overseas, could return to New Zealand. 51 have already arrived back, and about 10 are currently in managed isolation.

The University of Canterbury has been approached for comment regarding the concerns raised in this article.