UNESWA, PITCHER STUDENTS BOYCOTT

MANZINI – Operations of the University of Eswatini (UNESWA) came to a halt yesterday.

This was after students at the three campuses of UNESWA locked the institutions’ gates. The campuses are Kwaluseni, Luyengo and Mbabane. The chaos within the tertiary institution is said to have started at Luyengo Campus on Sunday at about 9pm. The Luyengo Campus offers programmes in Agriculture and Consumer Sciences. It is located 27 kilometres in the south-west of Manzini.

Reimbursed

This publication gathered that a group of students started singing political songs and demanded that they be reimbursed their money. While singing the political songs, it was gathered from impeccable sources that the students vandalised property of the institution. It was gathered that they hurled stones at the window panes of the administration block and the book shop.
At the administration block, it was said after destroying the window panes, they also pulled down a portrait of His Majesty King Mswati III from the wall. The portrait was said to have been  later destroyed outside the school gate yesterday.

Impeccable sources said police officers were called to diffuse the situation at the institution, which resulted in the students dispersing. However, yesterday morning, the learners were said to have started afresh their quest. In the process of ensuring that the operations of the institution did not materialise, it was gathered that they locked the main entrance into the campus with their own padlock. This was said to have resulted in the institution’s personnel being locked out of their place of employment. Impeccable sources claimed that in light of the havoc caused by the students, employees of the institution were instructed to return to their places of abode as a safety measure.

Meanwhile, the students were said to have continued to express their discontent at the failure by the institution to refund them their residential and examination allowances. They further expressed the need for the release of their book allowances. This was done through singing and protesting  within the campus. At around 10am, it was said some students descended on the sheds of the institution, where they grabbed free-range chickens and eggs. Also, it was gathered that some people suspected to be students invaded the farm of the campus and harvested maize. Thereafter, it was gathered that calm returned to the institution as the students behind the mayhem disappeared. At about 11am, the main gate to the campus was still locked with only the pedestrian gate opened.

A few students were seen walking within the institution while some were seated in groups. Worth noting is that motorists and personnel of the institution, who reside within the campus, were forced to use an alternative gate to gain entry.  Meanwhile, at the Kwaluseni campus, the students were reported to have locked the main gates to the campus just before 8am. This was said to have stopped staff from gaining entry into the tertiary institution. Also, students who wanted to either exit or enter the perimeters of the campus were seen by this publication’s reporters climbing over the two-metre high gate. The scholars were found singing and dancing to political songs near the main entrance. This was the third day of the students boycotting classes and demonstrating within the campus.

Last Wednesday, Post-Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) students expressed discontent after being informed that government had completed accepting scholarship requests. This attracted the attention of other students who feared that government could be in a move to remove more courses from the list of priority programmes which it funded.

Petition

Subsequent to this, the students marched to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, where they delivered a petition. On Friday, it was gathered that there were no lessons that ensued at the campus. Police officers clad in riot gear and carrying guns, stun grenades, batons and shields were seen seated outside the tertiary institution watching the proceedings from afar. Yesterday, UNESWA Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Thabani Mabuza said the students had agreed that they would not engage in any curriculum activity until they were refunded. The refunds that students enrolled with UNESWA are seeking include the residential allowance and tuition allowance set to cover the costs of examinations. Mabuza said the students were seeking the refunds given that they had not sat for examinations. He said it was their belief that the cost of examinations was calculated within the tuition fee; therefore, they did not understand why they were still paying the same amount, despite not writing exams.

On the issue of the residential allowance, he said on campus students had to vacate the institution when government had already paid for their accommodation. Mabuza  said the number of days they did not spend on campus should be refunded as the institution charged about E25 per day for accommodation. Furthermore, the CEO said students would be having a mid-term break next week; but they were yet to get their book allowances. This, he said, meant that they were not able to buy stationery and textbooks, which they ought to use in their various programmes. He also informed this publication that the same grievances were being raised by the Mbabane campus, which had communicated that they had also locked gates just before 8am. Meanwhile, Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni confirmed that police officers were deployed at the institutions. She said they were there to ensure that there was law and order.

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