BY TANAKA MREWA
About 50 Lupane State University (LSU) students were allegedly expelled from the university`s student residence after they smuggled in stoves into their hostels to make their own meals.
The students alleged the reason for bringing in their own stoves was because the quality of food served at the dining hall is substandard and the administration has not taken any action to ensure quality improvement.
A student who spoke on condition of anonymity decried the manner in which fellow students’ case was handled citing it was unfair.
“The problem started early this year when the DH shut down for almost a week because the food was too expensive and it was horrible,” said the student.
“People complained for quite some time yet there was still no change has been effectively done. So, the students decided to make their lives easier by bringing stoves to the hostel and making meals for themselves,” said the student.
The student explained the administration did not take issue well as it resulted in the university running a loss.
“They decided to do a search and seize operation. Those who were found with stoves were made to write reports. The dean of students instead of addressing the root cause of the problem has decided to expel the students from the hostels, they have already been served with letters informing them of the matter,” said the student.
CITE learnt the students representative council has been pushing for the reversal of the directive through a petition which already received more than 300 signatures.
Another student said the administration charged the students violated regulations provided for in an Ordinance 30 which they sign when they are enrolled.
“When one enrols into the school, they sign the ordinance but no one is given any copy of what it says. This Ordinance 30 was actually rafted while students were still solely making use of the town campus,” the student said.
“Sub wardens were the ones given the authority to search for all the students who had stoves. When we approached them (subwardens), they referred us to the dean of students. However, the dean is not around so we are communicating with his deputy to have the directive reversed,” said the student.
The student added: “Whenever a problem arises and we talk to the relevant authorities they always promise to dig deeper into issues affecting us yet they hardly do. We hardly get feedback of what would have been resolved. On this matter, the dean has already approved to send some students for hearing so we await the verdict.”
LSU director of marketing and communication Mr Zwelithini Dlamini dismissed the allegations stating the institute long dealt with the issue and the food being served now has been improved.
“Under any circumstances, students are not allowed to bring in stoves into the school premises because of power supply issues at the institution. The only time we had such a problem with the students was early this year. As the administration, we worked on improving the menu for the students.”
