February 09, 2009
Gaborone (Botswana) - The University of Botswana (UB) has been closed indefinitely after four days of class boycotts and violence. The violence was directed at fellow students who did not want to participate in the boycotts.
The closure came moments after all members of the Student Representative Council (SRC) were suspended with immediate effect from the school at around 11am.
A memorandum to the students from the Vice Chancellor, Professor Bojosi Otlhogile said the university was closed due to the violence. "Following the violence that was experienced on campus over the past days, you are hereby informed that campuses will be closed with immediate effect. You should all vacate the campuses by 13.30 hours today," the memo read.
One student, who refused to be named, said that yesterday morning, they were prevented from attending lessons by fellow students.
"The students who are at the forefront of the boycotts ordered us out of classes again this morning. Some students who stay on campus went to their rooms," she said.
The students behind the boycott went to the halls of residence and ordered everybody out. "Those who refused tried hiding themselves in their closets as the windows to their rooms were broken," she said. "I had no time to pack my clothes and I just upped and left because it is safer to be outside than being inside the university right now," she said as SSG vehicles arrived at the institution to check that all the students have vacated the university.
The Minister of Education, Jacob Nkate, stated that he was supposed to have met with the Student Representative Council body at 11am yesterday. "They did not come for the scheduled meeting. The meeting was arranged by the permanent secretary who they have been communicating with," the minister said. He explained that he has been in consultation with the management of the university and they agreed that because of the violence, the beatings, the vandalism of the university properties the institution should be closed.
The education minister stated that the ministry's position still stands on the grievances of the students. "There is no chance of changing our position unless we are slapped with a court order and I will be surprised," Nkate said.
The SRC president Kagiso Thutlwe said he was not aware of what went on at the institution as he vacated the campus immediately after receiving the letter suspending him from the university. "I was not at school at that time. I am not aware of any vandalism done by the students. We did not meet with the minister because instead of preparing for the meeting, we had already vacated the university building," Thutlwe said.
The students have been boycotting classes since Monday to protest against the ministry's decision to stop paying allowances to those who repeat their courses. The students unsuccessfully applied for a stay of execution to the High Court late last month.
The aggrieved students believe that they are entitled to their food allowances, which, since the start of semestarisation in 2004, they wanted to spend as they wish, on or off campus. The students said that the ministry should have liaised with the university to monitor their movements on or off campus.
"The ministry has refused to acknowledge the changes and they are telling us that they will be guided by the changes made at the beginning of the UB year last August. They never communicated that with the students or the UB management. All we are saying is that the students should be given the money that they are entitled to," the SRC president said in an earlier interview.
source.Mmegi (Botswana)