Your move, students: UNIMA defers Poly opening date after injunction against fees hike

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Malawi Students arrested for protesting

The University of Malawi (UNIMA) Council has postponed the opening date for The Malawi Polytechnic after students obtained an injunction allowing them not to pay the recently hiked fees.

The college was set to open for the start of a new academic year on 3rd October for new students who would have been joined by continuing students on October 10 but UNIMA has deferred the opening date in order to resolve the fees issue.

“Council of the University of Malawi regrets to inform all new and continuing students at The Polytechnic that the opening of their college which was scheduled for 3rd October 2016 for new students and 10th October 2016 for continuing students, has been postponed to a date to be communicated later.

Malawi Students arrested for protesting
Poly students against ‘minimal’ fee cut. Students demos at Poly. (Library.)

“This is due to the need for the Council and the Polytechnic Students Union to resolve the tuition fees matter which is currently in court,” reads a statement from the UNIMA Council.

The development suggests that the council will work on having the injunction vacated first before announcing a new date for the opening of the college

Earlier this week, the High Court in Blantyre granted the students the injunction after they argued that due to delays in the Polytechnic academic calendar, the college is still in 2015/2016 academic year and not in the 2016/2017 academic year when the new fees structure will be effected.

The University council raised the fees from K55,000 for government sponsored and K250,00 for self-sponsored students to K350,000 but the injunction allows students at the Polytechnic to pay the old fees structure.