LILONGWE (Maravi Post)—The closure of Public Universities in the country has not pleased Youth and Society (YAS), a nongovernmental organization fighting on the affairs of the youths in Malawi, which has called on authorities to re-open them forthwith.In a strongly worded statement , YAS says that they are deeply shocked over the current state of academic affairs of the Public Universities particularly, the indefinite closure of Polytechnic College, Mzuzu University (MZUNI), Natural Resources College (NRC) and Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST).
“First, we wish to condemn in strongest terms the unmeritorious closure of these institutions of higher learning and the total collapse of leadership in the management and governance of these institutions.
“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 Constitution hence he must wake up and fix the crisis or tell Malawians he is not fit to serve,“ in part reads the statement signed by the NGO’s Executive Director Charles Kajoloweka.
In the statement, Kajoloweka corners President Mutharika saying he cannot continue abdicating his constitutional obligation of providing sound leadership on matters of national significance.
“We further wish to remind Government that under the Constitution’s Principles of National Policy, the Government is called upon to provide adequate resources to the education sector and devise programs in order to offer greater access to higher learning and continuing education (section 13(f)).
“It is not uncommon that the current crisis in institutions of higher learning has acidic bearing on socio-economic development of young people, families and general population and militates against the national development ambitions,” reads the statement.
Demands
The statement is demanding President Mutharika as Head of State and Chancellor of the Public Universities in Malawi to “come out and account for the current crisis in the affected institutions of higher learning and provide sense of direction,” adding that Mutharika “should address the nation on this crisis.”
YAS also demands government to re-open the affected institutions forthwith.
The statement has also not spared UNIMA council saying the “Council should step down forthwith for its incompetence in running the affairs of UNIMA” and that “government should consider embarking on a robust stakeholder engagement and consultations on financing of higher education in Malawi.”
Warning
The statement warns that “failure to re-open the affected institutions of higher learning in time, will lead us in facilitating a civil action scheduled for Wednesday, 30th November 2016.”
“YAS wishes to assure young people and all Malawians that it will not tire defending the rights of young people and holding our elected government accountable on its actions and omissions for the betterment of our country, “concludes the statement.