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Poly students fail to get injunction, school remains closed

The Polytechnic Students Union (PSU) has resolved against obtaining an injunction which could have enabled students to remain at the Campus following the college’s closure Wednesday night.

Chaos: Polytechnic students rioted on Wednesday
Chaos: Polytechnic students rioted on Wednesday

The college’s management closed the school and ordered the students to leave the campus by 8am on Thursday after students took to the streets over delays in allowances.  PSU protested the closure and engaged legal advisors on the possibility of obtaining an injunction against the closure.  However, PSU President Jaston Bulaula told Nation Online that they have resolved against obtaining the injunction ‘because it is not an infallible decision’.  “We have resorted to engage in negotiations with the college management and I can say we are making progress. We are trying to plead with the college management to revert to the old system where students were given upkeep allowance on the day of arrival and were given a chance to processes other payments in a period of one month,” Bulaula said.  He said the decision to give students upkeep allowance after they have paid fees is complicated, saying some students depend on government scholarship loans to pay their fees which cannot be processed on the day of arrival.  “I take this opportunity to plead with government to process the loans as quickly as possible so that we move forward. It is my sincere hope that the college re-opens soon,” Bulaula appealed.  Meanwhile, College Registrar Margaret Longwe has said the institution has no mandate to change the new registration system as it is a policy issue.  “The old system was changed and it is not up to us to change that, this is a policy issue and it has to be respected,” she said.  According to Longwe the students were given two weeks for registration but on the third day they were on the streets. We have the money for allowances, but they wanted us to give them while they were not yet registered with the college, that it not the procedure,” she added.  Longwe was unsure on when the college would reopen.

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