UNISWA ALSO TO BLAME FOR STRIKES

LOBAMBA – Minister of Labour and Social Security, Winnie Magagula has come out to explain the annual class boycotts by students over allowances at the University of Swaziland (UNISWA).

It has become an almost accepted norm that no academic year starts and ends at UNISWA without students boycotting classes and demanding the release of their allowances.
Addressing members of her ministry’s portfolio committee in Parliament yesterday, the minister explained what she viewed to be cause of the delay but also apportioned blame to the UNISWA administration.

Magagula conceded that the process of awarding scholarships to deserving students was naturally long but said the university contributed immensely to the delays that occur every year.

The issue was raised by Manzini South MP Owen Nxumalo who asked: “Why is there so much noise at the university about allowances every year? What is the cause of the unnecessary noise and delays? We really wish to know from the minister,” he asked.
Mbabane West MP Johane Shongwe joined the debate saying there are too many tears on the land about the granting of scholarships.

“Le scholarship sineliso yini kantsi? What is the criterion used when granting scholarship because the tears are still flowing in the country about this issue. You meet people on the streets telling you that they have been sent from pillar to post trying to be awarded a scholarship but to no avail. What’s going on there?” he asked.
Minister Magagula gave herself time trying to address the issue. She first said the delay in the release of the allowances was partly caused by the fact that the process is not handled by her ministry alone. She said had that not been the case, the delays could be minimal.

She said the process was long and cumbersome and involved other departments such as the Treasury Department.
Apportioning part of the blame to UNISWA, Magagula said the university takes time to forward the names of returning students to the ministry, thus further delaying the process.
“Let me make an example. You find the university has invited students to forward their applications to April 1.

Sifting

“They (UNISWA) take their time sifting who to admit and who not to admit. By the time they submit to us the list of students they have admitted, it would be around July. Our Board (scholarship selection) then sits and sifts the candidates who qualify from those who do not.
“The university opens in August. No matter what type of miracles you possess, it won’t happen that by August you would be ready. That’s where the complication lies. When the scholarship board finishes, it then calls the students for interviews before they are awarded the scholarships,” she said.

She said administrative processes at UNISWA were a cause of the problem.
“Mr chairman you would be amazed if I can tell you that some of these are just administrative. Sometimes you find that results are released in July but the university takes a long time to submit the list of returning students.

“When the university takes its own time, there is nothing we can do on this side. The whole process is delayed. In July they write supplementary exams, in August the university opens. It all happens within short notice. It is important to explain this clearly so that even the students can understand,” she said.

The minister said having finished all processes of interviewing and awarding scholarships to students, her ministry then forwards the list to the Treasury Department.
“At Treasury, they also have their own payment systems. There is a waiting list there and we know that government money flows in liquid cash every now and then. The payments are made according to the waiting list and what happens is once the students notice that some of their colleagues have received their allowances, they take to the streets. They do not understand that the problem is in the long process.

Track

“What we are trying to do is fast-track the capturing of the data for the students. We wish to have a system where the data is captured immediately the students are awarded the scholarships.  It’s a process,” she said.
Magagula said her ministry also aims at keeping the interview process on-going instead of waiting for UNISWA to finish admitting its students.
She said this would be done on the strength of the fact it is not only students who want to study at UNISWA that apply for scholarships.

“We also want to make the interview process of the students shorter rather than waiting for the university to complete their admissions because UNISWA students are not the only ones that apply for the scholarships.  We are looking forward to implementing that the interview process is, in itself, long,” she said.

2 400 are the ‘lucky few’

MBABANE – Only a ‘lucky few’ students in the region of 2 400 tertiary students have obtained government scholarships this financial year.
This was said by Winnie Magagula, the Minister of Labour and Social Security in Parliament yesterday.

Magagula said despite the financial challenges faced by government, these students had been awarded  scholarships to pursue their studies in both local and international institutions.
The minister also told parliamentarians that her ministry engaged a consultant to assist in overhauling the current scholarship process and develop a new one.

“A consultant was engaged to assist the ministry in overhauling the scholarship process and facilitate the development of a more robust scholarship recovery system. The system was dived into two phases with phase one being mainly institutional reforms while phase two was for system development” she said.

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