(From Swazi Media Commentary 19 January 2009 www.swazimedia.blogspot.com)
Swaziland’s only independent daily newspaper has called for a probe and
audit of the kingdom’s only university.
The Times of Swaziland in an editorial says the University of Swaziland
(UNISWA) spends millions of emalengeni a year, and asks whether Swazis are
getting ‘value for money’.
The Times goes on to ask, ‘Are
some of the unemployed graduates unemployed because they are no longer
relevant for the job market or are they victims of a government that is
failing to provide employment despite knowing very well what it needs
to do to lure investment our way?’
Memories are
short in Swaziland. A Commission of Inquiry into UNISWA reported in
2006 (it was widely covered by the Swaziland media at the time). The
Commission set up by the Swaziland Minister of Education (Constance
Simelane at the time) investigated a wide range of issues, including
the relationship between the university administration and students,
the qualifications held by teaching staff, the transparency of decision
making in the university and the accountability of the university’s
governing council.
UNISWA’s
administration refused for three years to take part in the inquiry
because it said the Commission would support students in their
grievances against the university.
Eventually (but reluctantly) the administration took part.
In its
report, the Commission said the university administration tended to
believe that its students were militants and therefore needed a firm
hand, which fuelled conflict between the two (Swazi Observer,
7 March 2006). The Commission called on the university administration
to improve channels of communication and to open dialogue with the
students.
Anyone who
has been following events at UNISWA since that report was published
will know that nothing changed. Throughout 2007 and 2008 the students
were in dispute with the university’s administration over the
implication of a semesterisation programme at
UNISWA. After class boycotts and violence, the Swaziland High Court
ruled that the university administration was wrong to implement
semesterisation and instructed it to consult with students.
Only yesterday (18 January 2009), the Times Sunday reported that
students accused the Vice Chancellor of going ahead with an inquiry
into circumstances that led to vandalism of property during a boycott
by the students last year — and the students are opposed to the
inquiry.
So, the Times
can have its probe if it must, but we shouldn’t expect anything to come
from it. In Swaziland the best way to ignore a problem is to have an
inquiry into it. This takes time (years in the UNISWA case) and takes
the heat away from those under investigation. When the report is
eventually published it gets publicity for a day or so and then gets
hidden in a cupboard.
There are some real questions that need to be asked about UNISWA. It is a
government-run institution with King Mswati III as
its Chancellor and the King’s brother Prince Phinda is the unelected
chair of the university council. With such a set up it is unsurprising
that the university is often criticised for its lack of academic
freedom. If you are an academic at the university and you upset the
powers that be you are finished.
The Times of Swaziland thinks that UNISWA may be a waste of money. The
newspaper may have a point. In October 2008 the King in his address to
graduating students
told them they should go abroad to find jobs because there were none
available for them in Swaziland. That was a damning (unspoken)
admission that UNISWA is not operating in the interests of Swaziland.
What is the point of educating people at university level when there is
nothing for them to do once they graduate?
In the past year we hear news that two independent universities
may be opening in Swaziland. According to reports both should be
operating by now, but neither is. I have my doubts that either of them
(one a ‘Christian medical’ university and the other a ‘business’
university) will contribute much to the needs of Swaziland.
That said, I
think this does give us an excellent opportunity to debate what a
university in Swaziland ought to be doing and how best to achieve it.
See also UNIVERSITY OF SWAZILAND
Link
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-is-swaziland-university-for.html
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