MBABANE:Gabie Ndukuya,the newly elected President of the Swaziland National Union of Students(SNUS)says the low salaries and short-term contracts for Lecturers are some of the challenges that compromise the quality of education within the Universities.
Speaking to this Swaziland News current affairs programme on Thursday,the Students Union President clarified that they decided to join the Lecturers in their protest and support them because their grievances affected the quality of education.
“It’s true that Lecturers are ill-treated within the Universities and this compromises the quality of our education.We have seen in the media where the Universities were making excuses when the time to pay salaries came,the administrators would inform them that their salaries would be delayed. Another thing is the issue of short-term contracts,a Lecturer would come and teach us,at the time when we were ‘bonding’ smoothly with them, they would be gone after one year due to the expiry of their contracts. A new Lecturer would come-in and after one year, gone. This affects us as students and we fully understand their plight and we are willing to support them in having these challenges addressed,”said the Students Union President.
Reached for comments earlier, Tfobile Dlamini-Gumede,the Executive Director at Limkokwing University who hired Lecturers on short-term contracts confirmed that there was a go-slow last week Friday as part of the ongoing tension within the institution of higher learning.
On Thursday,another protest by Lecturers erupted within the University of Eswatini(UNESWA).
Human rights lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi,the Chairperson of the Association of Lecturers Academic and Administration Personnel(ALAAP) later told this publication that the Lecturers were protesting in demand for a salary review, the University of Eswatini(UNESWA was subsequently closed on Thursday.
Students Union President Gabie Ndukuya.