Funding Doctoral Candidate at UCT

I am looking for financing my higher education in South Africa. My name is Joel Ntando, I am a refugee from the DRCongo living in South Africa since 2008, and recently I applied for Permanent Residence Permit.

I am a doctoral candidate at the School of Languages and Literatures of the University of Cape Town (UCT). My research project, Exploration of Pedagogical Approaches for Teaching French as a Foreign Language at the University of Cape Town: affordances of experiential drama in a French multi-level class, explores the current practices of teachers of foreign languages in a multi-level class and the role of drama as a form of experiential learning in the classroom. This project could give us greater insight into the available and possible pedagogies in foreign language teaching, pushing the boundaries of current teaching methodologies, but also foregrounding the student’s voice (subjectivities) as a key ingredient in language acquisition. The role of voice in language teaching has been at the forefront of the New Literacy Studies movement, however in practice, there is a tendency to rely on skills-based approaches to teaching language.

This year (2019), I suppose to collect and analyse data from the research site (UCT) - conducting interviews with lecturers (and teaching assistants) and students and observing their French classes. However, the University does not allow me to register due to an outstanding fee (R68999); since the beginning of the year, I approached the relevant university authorities for support and for a possible payment plan in order to register and continue with my studies as I am in my third year (PhD), working part-time (1/2 hour/s per day) at the Writing Centre (UCT) and having a total scholarship of R55000 awaits to be claimed only after registration, but with no success.

Now, I am still not registered, living in transit accommodation and they want me out of the residence. I have no sustainable income or any alternative accommodation; I am more than eager to request for your financial support. Knowing that you offer financial assistance to students, could you please help me on this matter.

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.