Mulungushi University under closure threat

Wed, 26 Apr 2017 12:17:59 +0000

By IRVIN MUYUMBWA

MULUNGUSHI University students have been given up to today to call off their class boycott and protests leading to damage of property or management would be forced to shut down the institution.

The students on Monday ran amok destroying university property and private vehicles in a protest over alleged increase of tuition fees by four percent effective 2017/2018 academic year.

In a circular, Mulungushi University registrar Gubula Siaciti condemned the damage to window panes at the office of the Dean of Students and to the official vehicles of the Vice Chancellor and the Bursar.

He said the University senate met yesterday to discuss the way forward on the situation at the institution.

“Classes must resume tomorrow (today) as scheduled and without any conditions. If the class boycott continues, senate will have no option but to recommend to the Minister of Higher Education to close the University for a specified period of time as provided for under the Higher Education Act No. 4 of 2013,” stated Mr. Siaciti.

And Mr. Siaciti said the new fees for the 2017/2018 academic year as approved by the University Council remain unchanged while the decision to allow students write their deferred examinations in the semester in which the course runs effective 2017/18 academic year also remained unchanged.

Students at the University decided to boycott classes since last week in protests against management’s decision to increase fees by K3, 000 across the board.

But when contacted for a comment, Higher Education Minister Nkandu Luo declined to comment on the matter arguing that students might have been over-reacting as opposed to what was actually on the ground.