Striking students
in Swaziland have
been told they cannot resume studies unless they give their university the names
of strike leaders.
The Southern Africa
Nazarene University (SANU) made the demand following a dispute in the Faculty
of Health Sciences.
Students are being
forced to reapply to study and as part of that application they are asked to
complete questionnaires which include three questions: How did the student body
resolve to boycott classes in the absence of a student representative council? Who
was responsible for calling all students out of their classrooms to join the
strike? Do you know who were in the forefront of the strike action / the
leaders? Name them.
All students were
also asked to answer this question: ‘You participated in a class
boycott between the period 3 September and 10 September 2014 and destroyed University
property in the process. State and show cause why you as an individual should
not be held accountable for the damage you caused to the University property.’
The students went
on strike in a dispute over allowances, poor learning conditions in the
institution, insufficient books in the library and lack of laboratory equipment
for science experiments. They boycotted
classes for a week in early September 2014 and the Faculty of Health Sciences
has been closed since.
Students who are
being assisted by the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) are
considering taking the matter to court to force the reopening of the faculty.
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