FOUR TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS CLOSED

 MBABANE – Four tertiary institutions have been closed.  The decision was made by the institutions’ administrations who communicated the developments through memorandums released on Monday and yesterday.

The tertiary institutions are the University of Eswatini (UNESWA), Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT), William Pitcher College (WPC) and Eswatini Medical Christian University (EMCU).         

 
Students of these institutions have been at loggerheads with government and have been engaging in a joint strike action for about two weeks now. The bone of contention is that government, through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, is planning on implementing changes in the disbursement of the students’ living allowances.

Allowances

Government has proposed that the students get their allowances monthly, an average of E800 disbursed through Mobile Money or e-Mali, a move that the students are frowning upon.
Students further refused to attend lectures, clashing with the police and vandalising school property.

First to suspend classes was EMCU and UNESWA through memorandums dated August 26, 2019 which was on Monday. The latter’s memorandum informed the students’ that the institutions would be closed with immediate effect until further notice because of the students’ violence, vandalism, theft, threats to other students and staff and non-attendance of classes.

William Pitcher and LUCT then followed with similar memorandums dated August 27, 2019, advising students that the institutions were closed until further notice.

 “Pursuant to your refusal to resume classes yesterday (Monday), administration has since taken a decision to close the college indefinitely with effect from Tuesday (yesterday), and all hostels should be vacated by 10am. All hostel students are required to take all their belongings with them and leave dormitory keys with the store-men,” reads a memorandum from William Pitcher.

The college said it would inform students through the media when lectures would resume.
The students’ argument on the new proposed allowance policy is that it won’t work for them because they would have difficulty getting equipment like laptops and mobile phones which are essential tools for their studies.

Incompetent

Meanwhile, the Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) described the Ministry of Labour and Social Security as incompetent because of the recent events that led to four tertiary institutions suspending classes.
The union issued a statement on Monday criticising the ministry’s principal secretary, Thulani Mkhaliphi, for playing the victim instead of manning up like a leader should, and admit they were in the wrong.

SNUS President Mlamuli Gume-dze said the ministry had been taking poor decisions of late simply because they did not engage the students who were suppose to be the beneficiaries and they learnt with great dismay of the arrogant response given by the ministry on the new allowance disbursement.

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