New Era students engage Boko opposition help
Mpho Mokwape | Tuesday September 2, 2014 12:11
Student Representative Council president, Meshack Koobuse, told Mmegi they engaged Boko’s services as an attorney after the college turned a deaf ear to their complaints.
“We have engaged Boko’s services in his own capacity as a legal expert and not necessarily as leader of opposition.
At the moment we are waiting for his address,” he said. Koobuse also said they were also expecting Botswana Federation of Public Sectors Union (BOFEPUSU) Labour Secretary Johnson Motswarakgole to address the students at a later stage.
However efforts to contact both Boko and Motswarakgole proved futile as their phones rang unanswered.
The disgruntled students on Thursday held peaceful demonstrations and were intercepted by the police on their way to the Ministry of Education and Skills Development (MoESD) offices.
Koobuse said they had planned to march to the MoESD, to present their grievances and seek intervention. He said it was unfortunate that police had halted their march when they had no intention to cause disturbance or harm anyone.
Koobuse said the school management had repeatedly ignored their grievances. The student’s litany of complaints includes: delays by the college in posting their results, which he said impacted negatively on their learning;
“The issue of delayed results is not a new one, it has been there since the inception of the school. It is appalling that we are still fighting about the same issue after so many years,” he said. Koobuse said the school management had repeatedly ignored their grievances.
This had caused delay of their results, which negatively affected their learning. “The issue of delayed results is not a new one, it has been there since the inception of the school.
It is appalling that we are still grappling with the same issue after so many years,” he said.
He also said that students often registered for the next semester without having seen the previous marks.
He expressed suspicion the school management tampered with the results to present a favourable outlook to the Department of Tertiary Education Financing (DTEF). He pointed out that electrical engineering students had been registered yet, because the Ministry was yet to receive their results.
“The semester has commenced but some students have not yet registered and you can imagine what will happen if they receive their results late only to discover that they have not performed well. It will be a long process for them to be reinstated,” he explained.
Koobuse also said the school had failed to commence practical subject classes because there were no suitable laboratories. Furthermore, he said, students were expected to pay for their own optional subjects.
He said New Era alumni was perceived as incompetent in the work industry because they lacked practical skills, and some learners were rejected when they applied for internships. He also added that the college employed unqualified technicians.
“Some of this technicians are former students who were here before complaining about lack of practicals and it is surprising that they find their way into the school system as lecturers,” he said.
Meanwhile, the college management has rubbished the students’ claims saying the school has addressed the matter.
Marketing and public relations officer for the college, Gagan Chawla said the college was a franchise of the City and Guilds in the United Kingdom (UK) therefore they had no control over the release of results. However he noted the franchise’s results were often delayed.
“We do acknowledge that we normally have the delay of results, however it has never been a problem for students as we normally communicate with the them and the ministry well in time, no student has ever been disadvantaged,” he said.
He further said they often receive the results from the UK in stages, after which they compilee the marks before releasing them to students. Chawla said they were not aware of the other issues raised by students except issues about academic results.
He, however, said they would meet with the SRC despite their failure to approach them first before staging a protest.
“The issue of student paying for their own options has been made clear as they are expected to choose one option covered under their sponsorship. If they choose to add another option they have to pay.
However, selecting the second option is not a pre-requisite for the completion of their degree. I don’t understand what’s causing confusion,” he said.
Efforts to get comment from the DTEF proved futile as their phone went unanswered several times.