President asked to act on public universities stalemate

Malawian President Peter Mutharika’s “total silence” on closure of public universities in the country has not pleased civil society groups who have called on authorities to resolve the disputes rocking the institutions and ensure they are re-opened, writes Zawadi Chilunga for Nyasa Times.

The Civil Society Education Coalition and the Youth and Society condemned the “unmeritorious closure” of the institutions of higher learning and the “total collapse of leadership” in the management and governance of these institutions. The criticisms followed concerns aired by students from four colleges – the Malawi Polytechnic, Mzuzu University, Natural Resources College and Malawi College of Health Sciences – about the Mutharika leadership’s failure to resolve the disputes that have resulted in the closure of the colleges.

“We wish to declare the current state of academic affairs in Malawi a ‘total disaster’, symptomatic of a failed, careless and clueless political leadership at all levels of government. We wish to remind President Mutharika and his administration that young people of this country shall not negotiate on their right to education as guaranteed by Sections 25 and 13(f) of the Constitution, hence he must wake up and fix the crisis or tell Malawians he is not fit to serve,” said Youth and Society Executive Director Charles Kajoloweka.
Full report on the Nyasa Times site