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VICTORIA Falls University (VFU) students in Livingstone yesterday staged a protest blocking the campus entrance demanding quality education.
The protesting students accused management of not providing them with enough lecturers. They also complained of poor sanitation at the institution due to non-availability of water.
A student, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the campus management had failed to address their concerns despite them paying a lot of money.
“We have reminded management several times about the issue of lecturers. We miss most of the lectures because we do not have lecturers. Some come only when they want. The campus has no water but we pay a lot of money,” the student said.
He said efforts to dialogue with management had proved futile and that is the reason they decided to register their displeasure by protesting.
Quick action by riot police prevented the protest getting ugly when they responded to the call from management.
Police in riot gear managed to restore order and the students were ordered to get back to their dormitories until their matter is resolved with their union leaders.
VFU vice-chancellor Getrude Ehueni said she was aware of the grievances and that management was everything possible to address them, especially the issue of lecturers.
Ms Ehueni said there was a problem with paying lecturers, a thing she could not discuss with the students, but measures were being taken to ensure that the situation was normalised.
“The University is still in its infancy. We are likely to face challenges here and there, especially if most of the students have not yet paid. It becomes difficult to pay the lecturers. But we are discussing that as management to see how best we can resolve it,” Ms Ehueni said.
She said as for the sanitation problem, even management was affected because it was a water supply problem by the water utility company Southern Water and Sewerage Company (SWASCO).
“So we hope to meet with SWASCO and then meet the students on Monday to chart the way forward. As for now the situation is calm,” Ms Ehueni said.
