Creative Arts students at Mcast are up in arms that they are not getting hands-on practice, as the software they should be using is not functional.

Irate students who spoke to this newspaper on the condition of anonymity said they had to attend lectures just to watch tutorials.

Sometimes they were told to occupy themselves during the lecture. The students are reading for a degree in game graphics and visual design.

Students and lecturers are working on different software

“These subjects are not really theoretical, and we have to work hands-on all the time, so it’s very important that we have the software to work on. We are going to school just for attendance purposes: if we miss lectures we will not receive our stipend,” one student said.

Contacted about the students’ claims, a spokeswoman for Mcast confirmed that there were “operational issues” as some software updates were incompatible.

“Computers within the Institute for the Creative Arts are all installed with the necessary software needed to run the courses offered at this institute.

“An issue has recently arisen whereby a new version of a particular software has turned out to be incompatible with an older version of the same software,” the spokeswoman said.

We are going to school just for attendance purposes: if we miss lectures we will not receive our stipend.

This created operational issues for students and lecturers working on computers using different software. The spokeswoman insisted, however, that the institute was working to “minimise inconveniences”.

Asked when the issue was expected to be resolved and how students would be making up for the time wasted, the spokeswoman did not give information but said students should discuss such issues with the institute directors.