KWALUSENI: WHY do hungry students regularly protest leading to the closure of the University of Eswatini?
This is one of the major focus issues of a high-level commission of inquiry that has started sitting at the university which is currently closed following student protests last week.
The commission which will be calling for public views to find solutions that will return the university to health, is headed by Ubombo Sugar CEO, Muzi Siyaya.
“The university regularly opens and unceremoniously closes,” he said.
“Even though Government funds the university, it is perennially in financial problems. As this is a matter of serious concern to parents and the nation, Government appointed this task team to investigate how the university can be transformed to resolve the problems that regularly plague it and improve its operations”.
The committee was announced by the Prime Minister in September saying it should have completed its work in March 2025. It is made of higher education experts, UNESWA alumni and government representatives. To secure insights into solutions, it will seek to interview all people who are relevant to solving the university’s problems. These include university structures such as management, students as well as unions and senate which is responsible for the university’s overall performance.
Other stakeholders key to an understanding of why the university is perpetually in problems and what needs to be doe will include representatives of government, the private sector, past UNESWA students as well as members of Parliament education portfolio committees from both houses.
Mr. Siyaya says the committee is looking at an overview of the university’s operations, how it uses its finances, sustainability and programming of its curriculum delivery. By the government timeframe, it must report back within the next four months and make recommendations on areas that need improvement for the university to function normally and produce quality products and services.
The task team is not the first commission government has appointed to look into the performance of the university. Reports of past commissions have not been released. Mr. Siyaya says among the documents they will review will include reports and recommendations made by previous commissions to see how they were implemented. The team will also review documents that include operations of the university such as audit reports, financial reports and strategic plans.
The investigation for solutions will involve all affected parties: “The committee will open public hearings for a week or two to receive people’s submissions and contributions to recommendations on what needs to be done to restore the university’s integrity”.
Mr. Siyaya says it is also important to focus on areas necessary to raise the standard of operational and academic performance of the university so that it is benchmarked against other SADC universities.
Poverty of students who are often exposed to lack of such basics as food has been cited as one of the main problems that disturbs stability at the university. Students who rely on allowances to buy food erupted in protest at both UNESWA and at William Pitcher college in Manzini last week, forcing closure of both institutions. These disturbances which are inspired by access to student allowances and food are among the key concerns that inspired the creation of the commission.
Mr Siyaya said Government is extremely concerned with the welfare of students and why students don’t have food. “We will want to understand why students go hungry. When we were assigned this task, this is one of the aspects that we were specifically assigned to look at especially because Government declares that it releases funds that should cater for the welfare of students. We are all aware of the budget to the university. Our task therefore is to investigate how this money is used and why learning is persistently destabilized.
He said their mandate is to advise strategies that will normalize the university which has continued to deteriorate over its 42 years of existence: “Government wants the university to function properly. What that means is that learning materials should be available, students must learn; that they finish their programmes on schedule and graduate out of the institution bearing useful skills that are relevant to industry needs”.
The commission’s report will be submitted to Government through the minister of education. Past inquiries on necessary improvements of the university that continues to deteriorate have been kept confidential. Mr. Siyaya says it will be up to government to decide whether this report will be made public or secret. “We do hope though that the government will take the public into its confidence.”
Jm/today/16.10.2024
