Chakwera called to act as Unima closes

Civil Society Education Coalition (Csec) has urged President Lazarus Chakwera to intervene in the standoff between University of Malawi management and students that has prompted an indefinite closure of the institution.

The bone of contention is the 2022/23 academic calendar which will last one year and eight months as students stay five-month on holiday to accommodate a first year cohort.

Unima management said it closed the institution because the vigils the students have been holding to push for a review of the calendar posed a threat to the university community and the public at large.

But Csec executive director Benedicto Kondowe said the issue was complex and called on both parties to compromise and find the best way forward.

He said: “The President as Chancellor of Unima should rise to the occasion and provide possible options and guide the university on how to deal with the matter. The whole issue has an economic impact and a bearing on the university reputation.”

Ministry of Education Principal Secretary Chikondano Mussa in an interview on Wednesday said the ministry would not intervene in the matter as the academic calendar, is not drawn by the Unima senate.

“Unima is a semi autonomous institution with its own management which is well-educated and capable of resolving the issue. The matter is about the academic calendar which has nothing to do with the ministry,” she said.

The Unima 2022/2023 academic calendar, among other things, provides for a five-month break after the first semester.

The calendar in question was adopted in April 2022 to accommodate two first-year cohorts, one selected in 2021 with an enrolment of 1 689 and another 2 012 students selected in 2022.

By April 2022, the cohort selected in 2021 had spent almost a year and a half at home following the closure of all schools due to Covid-19, according to a statement from Unima he said.

Unima Students Representative Council general secretary Sam Chiumia on Wednesday said the closure will not only affect the academic but also the economic part of their lives.

He said students lodging off-campus have just paid their rentals in surrounding neighbourhoods, including Chikanda.

“The immediate closure will affect students’ finances as most landlords cannot return the monies on grounds their tenants are living early,” he said.

Another student from Rumphi who defined herself as Esnath said the closure of the university has put her at crossroads as her parents, who are subsistence farmers, cannot afford to send her transport fare instantly.

A fourth year law student, who opted for anonymity, decried management’s decision, saying it has frustrated his plans.

Meanwhile, students have applied for an injunction to stop the closure of the university.

However, the High Court of Malawi has directed that the matter should go for interpartes hearing this Friday at 9am.

Effectively, this means that the decision to close the university remains.

The student representative council has been told to serve the university’s lawyers all documents by 9am Thursday.