STUDENTS FORCED TO BOARD KOMBIS TO UNESWA

MANZINI- Is it safe? This is one question that students doing Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) at UNESWA are probably asking themselves.

This comes after the students doing PGCE have been ordered by their lecturer to board public transport and submit their assignments at the university despite the King’s declarations to avoid large gatherings and the closing down of tertiary institutions due to the widespread of the coronavirus.  

      
Assignment

Information gathered from a student at the University of Eswatini (UNESWA), Kwaluseni Campus was that two weeks back, they were given an assignment which was to be due today. Unfortunately they had to close last week due to the current situation of coronavirus, (COVID-19).
This comes shortly after government invoked Section 29 of the Disaster Management Act of 2006 where it declared a national emergency.

This, according to government, was after accessing the severity and magnitude of the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country.
Through the voice of the Prime Minister, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, government further announced that schools and tertiary institutions would be closed indefinitely until further notice.  

However, the student said to their surprise, their lecturer insisted that they continue to submit the assignment on the stipulated date regardless of the King’s declaration of a national emergency.

Report

He said they called the student representative council (SRC) chairperson to report the matter and he went to the assistant dean of students affairs (ADSA), to report this matter and to their dismay, the ADSA after hearing about this just allegedly ignored the chairperson, hence today they are expected to all board public transport and travel to Kwaluseni Campus to submit their assignment regardless of how risky that was.

“We have assignments which are due in three weeks from today including the group assignment. About the assignment which is due next week, the lecturer said we must write it and insert it into an envelope with our names, surname and ID numbers and submit it at the gate,” said the student. The student claimed that this was a message from the lecturer conveyed to them (students) by the class representative.

According to the student, given the King’s declaration of a national emergency, it could have been ideal for them to submit the assignments online rather than submitting them personally.

Comment

The University of Eswatini Registrar, Dr Salebona Simelane was reached for comment and said they were not aware of the arrangement between the concerned lecturer and students.

 “We are also not aware of government restrictions on travel by the public as these are students that you are talking about,” he said. 
He said their assumption, again based on the information provided by this reporter, would be that the students would be coming to the institution from the different regions of the country.

“We are satisfied that the lecturer, again based on your information, is not going to be instructing any group of students,” he said.
He said communication between lecturers and students remained open and that it was gatherings that were not allowed of groups above 50 people.

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