Following ongoing protests at the Eswatini Medical Christian University (EMCU) by students due to the non-engagement of a dean of student affairs, the institution has suspended face-to-face lectures while it works to resolve the matter.
According to EMCU Registrar Sebenta Menon, face-to-face classes were suspended on Monday following a Senate resolution.
Menon said the suspension of physical classes would provide the university with enough time to conduct interviews for the vacant dean of student affairs (DSA) position, which were scheduled to take place this week.
He said before the suspension of face-to-face lectures, students had also been provided with a report regarding the lecturer they had previously complained about in the Radiology Department.
Menon said the university had shared the findings of the investigation conducted into the lecturer and the outcome thereof.
However, because the protests persisted, the institution resolved to suspend face-to-face classes while the matter was being addressed.
“We will be conducting interviews this week to fill the position of dean of student affairs and also consider their plea that we should find a part-time lecturer in the meantime to fill the vacancy in the Radiology Department. We are working towards resolving the two issues as a university,” he said.
Meanwhile, a memorandum issued to students and copied to the bursar, heads of department, faculty dean and the Students Representative Council (SRC) stated that the university Senate, during its meeting held on Monday, resolved that all face-to-face lectures be suspended with immediate effect until further notice.
The memo further indicated that online lectures would continue and that students were expected to vacate the campus immediately.
The development follows class boycotts and demonstrations by students who were demanding the hiring of a full-time DSA.
According to SRC President Swazi Mkhwanazi, the boycott was initially triggered after students spotted the suspended lecturer on campus on April 13, which was the first day of the second semester.
Students reportedly believed that the lecturer had been reinstated without management providing feedback regarding complaints that had been raised against him at the end of the previous semester, which had resulted in his suspension.
