To the striking UNISWA and college students

Sir,

It is about time these students are taught basic economics that there are times when there is no food on the table and mum eats what remains on their plates. When the going gets tough one must learn to get the tough going.
At the moment they get allowances from the tax payer and show no gratitude for the opportunity.

I am a former UNISWA student who entered after working for 15 years and successfully competed with those who were straight from high schools. It was not because I was any smarter than them; they did not have time for their studies as they spent a lot of time getting drunk on the allowances. I became unpopular with the SNUS for I could not support the unjustified requests for increases in allowances so that they can drink more. They are spoilt.
When my children entered UNISWA, I told them in no uncertain terms what they had gone there for: to study, pass and quickly get out of there. UNISWA is no place to spend longer than the course demanded. It is no holiday resort either.

Today we are experiencing an economic melt down and the students want an increase in allowances?
Let us revise the whole student assistance scheme. A scholarship is earned and assistance is given to those who qualify and cannot afford. Because it is difficult to deprive a good student even from an affording family, it was decided to treat everyone the same.

In these times of poverty let us revisit the award. Government should concentrate on tuition, books and part-upkeep. Contributions to allowances should be on a 50:50 basis with parents. It is unfortunate that there are those who struggled to get their children to high school. Those students should learn not to participate in vandalism and boycotts, may be Government will save to help on a more favourable rate. All vandals must be prosecuted and deprived of the ‘scholarship’ so that all finances are spent on supportive projects and not repairing the work of vandals.

The age of modern students is much lower and effectively these are children mentally who should not be treated as adults. They have demonstrated beyond doubt that they are intellectually immature. They are still dependents who have no clue were the money comes from.
The leaders are usually those who are not doing well and they want to sink the whole education ship. Give them more work so that they are deprived of the drinking time and fail them out of the institute should they not keep pace with the working culture.

We cannot be training people to be dependents; they must learn to save, borrow and repay. They will form co-operatives while at the tertiary institutes.
The Botswana Government had the same strikes experience. They sorted it out in one academic year by taking decisive steps to root out the indolent, disruptive and good for nothing.

Lomavovo Mlangeni

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