Poly students’ parents push for opening of college

Parents of students at the Polytechnic are leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that their children return to college soonest to continue their studies.

The sentiments were made at meetings in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu on January 2 2017 where the parents resolved to engage Polytechnic management in mapping the way forward to enable their children get back to college.

Chairperson for the Polytechnic parents group, Paul Chikwekwe, said in an interview yesterday that one of the resolutions at the meetings was to meet the University of Malawi (Unima) Council to express their concern over the delay to take their children in.

He said their children have spent eight months at home, after being accepted into college for the 2015/2016 academic year.

“We have booked the council for a meeting and they will advise us about the date. Our concern is that the longer the children stay home, the more they lose. They should have been completing their first-year by now,” Chikwekwe said.

He said some of the issues preventing their children from start learning included a court injunction which the Polytechnic students obtained against fee hike, adding this is one of the issues under discussion when they meet the council.

“We want the council to tell us what challenges there are, but our focus is to have a lasting solution to the closures,” he said.

One of the parents, who asked for anonymity said it was sad that their children could stay home for almost a year.

He said losing a year of education was the most painful thing for anyone, urging authorities to resolve the issue as soon as possible. n