|
Whither University of Malawi
©David Mkwambisi (PhD)
The University of Malawi (UNIMA) has been among the institutions featuring highly in our print and electronic media. Although positive contributions from UNIMA have been documented in some circles, majority of stories on UNIMA are not palatable enough for those directly or indirectly involved with UNIMA. Over the years, there has been a tag or words and actions on salary increase to the extent of engaging external consultants and reputable lawyers. The results are to be fulfilled.
Specific terms have come from all walks of life describing and defining lecturers. ‘ Let them resign’, we can do without a University, University is luxury education, I can fire all of you now, I can employ university teaching staff within ten seconds…the stories are countless. These issues can not only be blamed on those outside the corridors of UNIMA, but the whole political and administrative set-up of UNIMA is also to censure.
First and foremost, I would like to remind the reader that the core duties of any university are teaching, research, outreach and indeed publication. Or a university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. It is also known as a community of teachers and scholars. It is further reorganized as a corporation of students.
Some of the characteristics we associate today with a university include auto-administration and academic independence. With these characteristics, then The University of Al Karaouine in Fez, Morocco is thus recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest degree-granting university in the world with its founding in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri.
To achieve these duties, universities are either funded by the government of are privately owned. For Malawi, the UNIMA is fully funded by the government who in turn is our employer and we do dance to its tune. The tune of insufficient funding, lack of vision and indeed the tune of political beverages. Within this environment, lecturers and indeed support staff have always knocked on the door of the government for salary increment and improvement of conditions.
Regrettably, the business of the government is not only to listen to worries from lecturers, it has other important issues to cover. That’s why we can be replaced at the count of 10. Yes, we are not the only educated people who can take up teaching positions at UNIMA. Why are we in this situation of no choice or the choice is yours?
UNIMA has over the last years taken a different approach to university’s core duties. In my opinion, UNIMA’s priority number one is the welfare of it’s students. But students are just incorporated into the university. Today, our colleges can not open if we have no beans, cabbages and even water for students. In actual fact, when students are on holiday, the university is like any boarding school.
The whole junk of university budget is to feed and accommodate students at the expense of teaching and research. Most of large and well-known universities have never prioritised students feeding on their menu. They are very successful academically (research and publication).
The outcome of this approach is that lecturers are told to secure their own funding; departments are busy cooking food, selling goats and rabbits as income generating activities. Colleges have no teaching facilities, laboratory equipment and good offices. This has impacted on the sort of students graduating from our universities. While in terms of health status and welfare the students are happy, intellectually these students are malnourished.
The ideal solution is to allow students secure their own funding to attend university education. Either, they should receive scholarships from the government that will include food and accommodation. Let our bosses have enough time to improve the technical and scientific capacity of the teaching staff rather than searching maize and beans for students.
As lecturers, we have not worked as a team to address these anomalies. May be instead of looking for better salaries, let the government provide research facilities that will allow us generate our own money and improve our welfare. Most universities are surviving on research and consultations.
What I have noted is that many people especially politicians think that we have no options of leaving UNIMA. Majority of people still wanting to teach is not only for money but being patriotic to one’s country. For example, we are paying tuition fees to needy students. Very few politicians are doing this.
We use our on vehicles to conduct and take their children for field practices, no politicians has donated a vehicle to the University. We pay our students research funds from our own pockets; no politician has decided to create a research fund. Most of computers and indeed power point projectors are personal properties. We have been conducting intellectual competition using personal resources, why then are we regarded as a batch of mad dogs seeking better bones? Time will come when we will leave University. We will not be either the first or the last group to leave. It is high time people appreciate the role of individuals within UNIMA who are effectively contributing to the national cake on development.
To me, University should be regarded as a centre of excellence that can contribute to national development. In many countries, we have seen that even international conventions are not signed without the involvement of universities. MOU, treaties and other important development initiatives from external worlds, can not be approved without consulting experts from the university. In Malawi, only the media has taken initiatives to get some comments from university experts on issues of national importance.
Some might argue that what will UNIMA offer to the national development? There are no technologies either new solution to prevailing problems. This comes back to funding priorities. We are unable to reach the public because there are no resources for such important component for a university.
Finally, while I do appreciate that the current government has improved funding to UNIMA, unlike the UDF team, the same government could provide scholarships to students so that they can cover their own welfare. We can use these scholarships to undertake top class research and contribute to the development discourse. In the same approach, let the government support research and teaching such that we generate our own resources.
It is not proper to conclude that all lectures have no option to leave. Leaving a place does not only mean packing your belongings. There is more to this. Majority of lecturers are physically within the corridors but intellectually they are contributing to other organisations. As a country we need to understand such implications for national development. To me, both the government and indeed the UNIMA set up are to blame on this issue. Let us redefine the core duties of a university before engaging in cold war on salaries and firing staff.
|