The
Southern African Nazarene University (SANU) in Manzini, Swaziland, has
closed indefinitely following
student protests against poor facilities and insufficient allowances.
It
follows a class boycott by students and police action on
campus after the bursar’s office was blockaded.
The SANU Senate ordered the
university closed after students in health and education refused to return to
lectures. Students were ordered to vacate the premises on Wednesday (1 February
2017).
Students petitioned the
Swazi Ministry of Labour and Social Security in Mbabane. They said there was insufficient
clinical and teaching practice and project allowances were lower than at other
universities.
The petition also stated
that the university’s administration had increased tuition fees without proper
notification and a lodging allowance to rent accommodation had been withdrawn.
The SANU is
a state health training institution operating under the Nazareth health
institutions in Swaziland, and has campuses at Steki Good Shepherd
and Manzini Nazarene Hospitals.
This was not the first
student class boycott at SANU over poor facilities and unpaid allowances.
In October 2015, students
and staff protested
separately over poor conditions at
SANU. The students boycotted class because allowances had not been paid 60 days
into the new academic year. Academic and non-academic staff waved placards and
sang songs at the administration block in a dispute over poor salaries.
In September 2014, students
were forced to reapply to study and as part of that application they were
asked to give up the names of the boycott leaders. 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.
Students had 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.’
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