MATSAPHA: Dr Salebona Simelane, the Registrar of the University of Eswatini (UNESWA) has appealed for patience from graduates as the COVID-19 pandemic delays a graduation ceremony.

This comes after the University’s 2020 graduates approached this Swaziland News complaining that the institution of higher learning was delaying to release their certificates.

Responding to questions from this publication,the Registrar said the COVID 19 pandemic hit them so hard such that they had to extend their 2019/20 academic year which normally ends in June to 28 November.

“The University of Eswatini's academic year officially came to an end on the 16th October 2020 following its extension from 30th June 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.However, we only managed to finish all academic processes for that year on the 28th November thus the University Senate is addressing the issue of the graduation ceremony for the the 2020 graduates. It met on the 8th January to deliberate on that very issue but I am not in a position to communicate anything tangible on the proposed date for the graduation ceremony yet.Certificates are normally inscribed with the date of award/graduation, so they will be released during a graduation ceremony.We also considered holding a virtual graduation ceremony but I’m not in a position to state if that would be possible.We understand the students’ plea and we will communicate any developments in this regard as soon as possible",said the Registrar.

When reached for comments Colani Maseko , the President of the Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) said the University should stop playing games since it was not the only institution of higher learning that was affected by the pandemic.

“We are aware of this issue and we will be working on it soon, the University must stop playing games. It is not the only institution that was affected by the COVID19 pandemic. We have seen other institutions virtually hosting their graduation ceremonies. As SNUS we demand that the University release the certificates immediately”, said the SNUS President.