SIT-IN AS 20 UNESWA STUDENTS LOSE GOVT SCHOLARSHIPS

MBABANE – Government’s ‘broken promise’ to UNESWA students might see about 20 of them dropping out in their first year.
UNESWA is an acronym for University of Eswatini.

About 20 UNESWA first year students were reportedly told by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security that government would no longer be sponsoring them after just one semester of learning.
The reason given to the students was that there was a ‘human error’ when the ministry included their names on the list of those to be funded by government. This list was pinned on UNESWA billboards and given to the institution for purposes of indicating which students would be funded by government. This then enables the students to register and be eligible to attend lectures and also buy books on credit at the bookshop then settle their debts after they get their allowances.

Boycotted

Unlike in previous incidents where students boycotted classes and marched to the ministry in song to deliver petitions about their grievances, the affected students staged a sit-in along the ministry’s corridors. This was until they were engaged by Principal Secretary Thulani Mkhaliphi and other officials.
The affected students are first years from the Luyengo and Mbabane Campuses. It was established that they were removed from the list of sponsored students because the ministry discovered that they did not qualify for government sponsorship.

Sources said the ministry informed the students that their credit points were below those set as the cut-off by the ministry. They said they were informed that their names were included on the list due to a ‘human error’ and therefore could not benefit from the government scholarship. They were reportedly informed that government would no longer be funding them but would engage the university about last semester’s expenses.

A student who commented on condition of anonymity said registration deadline was next week and he did not know where he would get enough money to ensure that he completed his first year.
The student said it was a pity that they were only told that they were on the list because of a human error and that no one could benefit from that. He said they were in the dark about what their future held. He was concerned that the ministry only spoke of engaging the university about compensating it for last semester’s expenses but nothing was said about damages towards them.

“I have been at the university this whole time knowing that I am fully funded by government,” the student said.
The student stated that he probably could have been working in textile firms had he known that government would not sponsor him. He said his family could not afford to pay his tuition and wondered how he would break the news to them now.

Shame

He was also concerned about the shame they might be subjected to in the event they had to drop out and return to their communities. He said people who were not happy about them going to university would have a field day making fun of them for dropping out in their first year.
Another student wanted to know how the ministry would hold accountable the officers who were responsible for the mess. He said this showed incompetence on the part of the officials and further questioned the duties of the Scholarship Board. He questioned how they could have missed that they did not qualify for the scholarship in the first place as they indicated their points when they applied for funding.
UNESWA Student Representative Council (SRC) President Sakhile Ndzimandze confirmed that the students were on the government list but their names were later pulled out. Ndzimandze said all the affected students registered with the university with the expectation that they would be fully-funded by government.

He said it was surprising that the students were later informed when they were about to sign their agreement forms that they were not covered by government.
“There was no communication until the students were supposed to register for the second semester,” Ndzimandze said.
He said this was why the students then marched to the ministry to enquire why they were no longer part of those funded by government. He said the PS was ‘brave enough’ to inform them that an error had occurred. He wondered why the ministry never communicated this to them as they only learnt about it after they were proactive and marched to the ministry to enquire.

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