Armed riot police broke up a peaceful vigil by
students in Swaziland seeking to
get their closed university reopened.
The vigil by students of
the Swaziland Christian University (SCU) was outside the Ministry of Education
and Training on Thursday (7 September 2017).
Armed police from the
Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) gave the students 10 minutes to
disperse. The OSSU is known for its violence and the students led by executives
of the university’s student representative council decided to march away.
SCU was closed in August
2017 following an investigation by the Swaziland Higher Education Council
(SHEC). According to a 40-page report, SCU, a private university in a joint venture with
the Swazi Government, did not have the required funding to continue. There were
also issues among others about the suitability of learning resources such as the
library and the relevance and quality of its courses.
The university which
specialises in medical-related courses had an enrolment of 916 students in the
past academic year.
When the university was closed Minister of Education and Training Phineas Magagula
said the ministry would work with SCU to get it reopened as soon as it was
practicable.
In 2015, when SCU was in financial crisis and could not pay salaries,
the university blamed the Swazi Government for not giving it money it had
promised.
The Observer on
Saturday newspaper reported at the time (28 February 2015), ‘This was
disclosed by the university’s bursar Lusekwane Dlamini through an internal
memorandum.’
The newspaper reported the memo said, ‘This memo
serves to inform you that salaries for this month will be delayed due to the
current financial situation faced by the university.’
The newspaper added, ‘According to highly placed
sources, the school administration is accusing government of failing to render
their salaries. They are alleging that government promised to give them E27
million [US$2.7 million] which was not met.’
It reported the Minister of Education and Training
saying there was no money at the moment. He said the Government had paid the
university E3m at the beginning of the year.
In February 2015, it was reported that armed police
raided the university’s campus after students boycotted classes. They were
protesting about a shortage of lecturers and inadequate teaching facilities.
It was also separately reported that 25 female
students from the university had been raped in the previous year. Students
blamed the university for not providing them with secure accommodation.
See also
POLICE
BLOCK DEMOCRACY MEETING
PROTESTS
CLOSE SWAZILAND UNIVERSITY
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