Reopen public universities, demand UPND
The UPND central Province has demanded that the government reopens all public universities immediately.
The university of Zambia and Copperbelt University closed in November last year after the end of the end academic year.
However, the two institutions could not reopen in November the same year as scheduled, citing challenges.
This year alone, government has thrice postponed reopening the two universities, citing poor health conditions in view of the recent cholera outbreak.
Central Province UPND youth chairman Milner Mwanakampwe said the prolonged closure had disturbed students and parents a lot.
“Following the cholera outbreak that was recorded in some parts of the country, government declared that learning institutions; including universities would remain closed. As the situation started improving some of these institutions of learning were re-opened while the University of Zambia, Copperbelt University and Nkrumah Universirty have remained closed despite some management teams in these tertiary institutions making progress in terms of sanitation,” he narrated.
“The PF government is being unfair to the student populace by continously closing these public universities because students are pursuing studies in different fields and are eager to contribute to the social and economic development of the country. The academic calendars at these institutions of higher learning have been affected, and the students’ academic perfomance will be affected. And ultimately, instead of these students completing their study programmes in four or five years, they will now be made to complete their degree programmes in six or seven years. Our take on the continued closure of universities is that the PF government has got no money to pay students’ meal and project allowances as well as pay lecturers salaries on time. That is why they are now using the cholera outbreak as an excuse.”
Mwanakampwe asked the higher education ministry to stop threatening students and workers with deregistration.
“We have also noticed that the minister of higher education has taken an antagonistic approach whenever students and members of staff raise concerns on the running of tertiary institutions. The minister of higher education has even gone to an extent of threatening to de-register some students’ and workers’ unions in univesirties,” said Mwanakampwe.
“At some point she threatened to suspend union activities in tertiary institutions. The ministry of higher education should refrain from this tendency of threatening to de-register university unions or indeed suspend unions’ activities.”
