UNZA ISSUES RESOLVED….STATEMENT BY THE ACTING MINISTER OF EDUCATION
Good afternoon fellow citizens, in my acting capacity as education minister, this morning we held a meeting with the University of Zambia Management over issues that have affected students and the smooth operation of the institution as a whole which led to protests yesterday.
During our meeting, we directed the University of Zambia -UNZA Management to allow all students at the main campus and Ridgeway campus to sit for their examinations on the condition that the management should hold on to the results until students clear their outstanding arrears.
We also directed the UNZA management to begin the process of paying Lecturers their gratuities with the available funds.
And assured Lecturers that Government has already started serious engagements with the Ministry of Finance to allocate 50 million Kwacha to settle the gratuities of lecturers at the highest learning institution.
We further stated that matters that involve management and Lecturers should not at any point affect students because they are innocent.
We also encouraged the Management and Unions to embrace the spirit of dialogue as it is the best way to resolve issues amicably.
We informed the Management and Unions that ZESCO will be engaged to exempt the University from the current load shedding schedule to allow students to prepare for exams uninterrupted.
Meanwhile, we are delighted to inform the nation that the University of Zambia-UNZA management expressed great satisfaction with the resolutions agreed during the meeting, adding they will comply with the directives given by our Government and looking for lecturers to return to work.
Also, UNZA Lecturers and Researchers Union UNZALARU through their President ANDREW PHIRI have since called off the go slow with immediate effect and assured the government that they will return to work immediately.
Hon. Elvis Nkandu, MP
Minister of Youth, Sport and Arts/ Acting Education Minister.