SWAZILAND: Govt suspends tertiary scholarships

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

MBABANE, 9 Sep 2005 (IRIN) - Diminishing economic resources led to the suspension of scholarships at the University of Swaziland and a rise in student activism at start of the academic year this week.

Late on Thursday afternoon, 10 students were injured when police broke up a march by 1,000 undergraduates seeking an audience with Prime Minister Themba Dlamini to demand the restoration of government scholarships that had always been available to tertiary students.

"There is a forum to use if you want to make appointments - you don't just come in such numbers, because that is when you become chaotic," Police Commissioner Edgar Hillary told members of the Student Representative Council after police fired teargas at the marchers.

The prime minister's office, overlooking downtown Mbabane, the capital, is close to the city hospital, where students injured by water cannon and in a resulting stampede were admitted, treated and released.

Police had told students that the premier was not in his office, but government spokesman Percy Simelane told the local press that the prime minister was in his office at the time of the march and its subsequent dispersal by police.

Political observers said the police reaction was similar to hard-line tactics used to disperse university students protesting dormitory living conditions and other matters in the past. The clashes have also exposed a class divide between working-class police officers and the more privileged university students.

According to The Swazi Observer newspaper on Friday, before firing teargas at the students assembled at the gate to the prime minister's office, one police officer said, "They are spoiled brats. They deserve a thorough beating."

Several students were injured while fleeing from the police but reportedly refused to go to hospital for fear of being arrested.

Angry senators questioned Minister of Finance Majozi Sithole, saying this was the first time in the University of Swaziland's 30-year history that government had suspended the scholarships, claiming poverty.

"What is happening at the university is very bad: these students were admitted through the proper channels, and it perplexes us what is happening now," said Senator Lydia Makubu.

Makubu, the former Vice-Chancellor of the university, said government automatically awarded scholarships to any Swazi student admitted.

The finance minister referred the matter to the education ministry. No official at the education ministry responded to press queries on Friday.

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