NO NEW UNIVERSITY FOR SWAZILAND

It comes as no surprise to hear that the private Limkokwing University isn’t going to open in Swaziland any time soon.

Limkokwing was due to open last month (January 2009) but it hasn’t been given permission to occupy its premises in Mbabane and government scholarships for students have not been forthcoming. As I wrote in November 2008 it’s almost impossible to get anything done in Swaziland and the bureaucracy is so entrenched that any kind of initiative is stifled at an early stage.

It’s a pity that another university isn’t starting up to rival the kingdom’s only existing university, the state-run University of Swaziland (UNISWA).

There are huge doubts about the quality of education available at UNISWA and it is not clear what the purpose of the university is. This became clear again this week when students in the Humanities Faculty demonstrated against a decision by the university to limit the number of graduates with Humanities degrees who would be allowed to extend their education by studying for teaching certificates.

In Swaziland, where King Mswati III (the Chancellor of UNISWA) told graduates they should go abroad for jobs because none were available for them in Swaziland, it is almost impossible to get a job with a Humanities degree, except as a school teacher. Work it out for yourself: what job opportunities are there in Swaziland for someone who has studied history, English Literature, African Studies or Christianity?

The decision to limit the number of places was taken by the UNISWA administration without consultation with students. This is entirely typical of how it works at UNISWA where the administration makes its decision and everyone else - staff and students – have to live with it. Students protested this week and riot police were called in, damage was caused to some university property and the university was closed indefinitely.

The UNISWA administration never learns. Throughout 2007 and 2008 there were student protests against the introduction of a semesterised system for programmes. After many class boycotts and closures, the law courts ruled that the UNISWA administration was wrong not to have consulted with students and it was forced to postpone semesterisation pending discussions with its own students.

You could say UNISWA followed the letter of the law but not the spirit. As the latest protests show, the administration at UNISWA is clearly incapable of discussing anything with students in an open and transparent way.

I suppose the present dispute will end eventually after much disruption to the students’ education, but it won’t be long before the administration causes another upset over something else and the whole sorry saga of protest will start all over again.