Game down: Police stop Poly students demos

Advertisement
poly students

A mini demonstration in the evening of Friday by students at the Polytechnic in Blantyre turned out to be a mission impossible for the students, we can confirm.

Alert police thronged the institution just after the students started the demos against the recent fee hike.

poly studentsAccording to information at hand, the students had started demonstrating along the Masauko Chipembere Highway, but did not succeed after the intervention by police.

The police threw teargas canisters to the students who blocked the Highway before a few running battles between them saw the teargas affecting patients at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital- which is just a few metres from the college ,according to sources.

Road users had to use other roads in the commercial city.

We understand that the police has netted a few students so far.

The students staged the vigils in unison with Chancellor College students who held demos this week before the college got sealed.

The University of Malawi (Unima) announced a fee hike in all its constituent colleges.

The fees see Chancellor College as the cheapest with its mature students paying K900,000. The Polytechnic comes next with a fee of K950,000.

Mature students studying at Kamuzu College of Nursing will be required to pay K1,000,000 while those at the College of Medicine will be asked to pay K1,400,000.

The students want the Council to revise this decision.

However the council has indicated it will not rescind this decision.

(MORE TO COME)