Poly facing image crisis after lecturers’ strike

Students at the Malawi Polytechnic say that the institution will need to restore its image which has been shattered locally and globally by the woes that have haunted the university.

For a week now, lecturers at the University of Malawi’s constituent college in Blantyre have been staging a sit-in calling on their employers to up their perks by 30%, something which has been turned down by the University Council.

The council says it has no enough funds to meet the lecturers’ demands and that if accepted the increment would see core operations at the university fail to take place.

These developments have yet again seen students at the university not having classes, something which has reminded them of the months they spent at home last year after a disagreement over loans had led to massive protests in the streets of Blantyre.

Malawi Polytechnic students have refuted reports that the students intend to stage a demonstration against a strike that their lecturers are having in pursuit of a pay hike.

The social media has been awash with reports that the students have organized a vigil to protest against the development.

But speaking in an interview with Malawi24 on Monday Polytechnic Students Union (PSU) President, Frank Msiska denied the reports saying that the students have agreed a way forward on the matter.

Msiska told this reporter that at the moment, the student’s body has not made a decision on the issue. He however said that the developments at the school have been disturbing the students academically as well as economically.

”We are spending a lot and the academic calendar so too the image of Poly. The public has a bad perception of the university now. You see, we are also concerned about the economy because we are delaying the industry since most of these students are very important in human resource management when they graduate, but they are being delayed,” he said.

Msiska added that the delays are also a bad omen for students who are completing their secondary schools because they will be idling at home for more than a year.

Meanwhile the students say they intend to meet and discuss what they would do but demonstration are seemingly not an option.

In August last year, the institution was shut down after a disagreement between the students and school authorities on loan payment led to student riots, something which may be a matter of concern to do again for the students.

The students were then called back to the institution a month later after the matter was resolved.