UB Aflame

FREDERICK KEBADIRETSE
Staff Writer | Monday September 20, 2010 00:00

 

Hell nearly broke lose at the University of Botswana as students threatened to hijack a week-long strike from the lecturers on Friday citing inadequate consultation from the management. Students were left in the dark starting last week when the lecturers went on strike demanding better pay.

The Vice-Chancellor, Bojosi Otlhogile, addressed the students briefly on Friday morning. The students were not satisfied with Otlhogile's explanation. He refused to listen to their further demands.

Late Friday afternoon, UB SRC president, Gobe Taziba, confirmed that the students are angry with management for keeping quiet while the students continue to suffer because lecturers have been boycotting classes for a week.

'We wrote a letter to the management on Tuesday telling them to excuse us from school so that we do not get involved in the whole saga between them and their staff, but they just ignored us until today (Friday). That is when the VC came to address the students,' Taziba said.

He said the students were not satisfied with the VC's explanation as they only wanted lectures back in class or else they be released to go home.

'What is the need to be in school now when there are no lectures?

'We have attended senate meetings with the management but they never gave us a good explanation on developments between the management and staff disagreements,' Taziba said.

Otlhogile told the students that there will be no classes on Monday. He did not say why. 'There will be no classes on Monday.

We will brief you by Tuesday when the classes will resume. Like I said earlier, we will find ways to make up for the lost time'.

The majority of courses at the university award students marks based on continuous assessments and two tests each written on each half of the semester. The university is scheduled to go on short vacation on Friday.

Most tests were supposed to be written this week.