Nellie Stepano
PORT MORESBY (PNG Post-Courier/ Pacific Media Watch): The vice-chancellor of the University of Goroka, Dr Gairo Onagi, has been suspended and the appointment of the university governing council revoked.
The Minister for Higher Education, Research Science and Technology Malakai Tabar intervened "under such difficult situations, in order to minimise disruption to students, university staff and wider community".
University students have been boycotting classes for the past four weeks, culminating in a run-in with police last Friday when a protest march in Goroka got out of hand and students were injured and university property was damaged.
An interim governing council will be appointed and directed to appoint an interim vice-chancellor immediately.
Tabar made the announcement in Port Moresby yesterday after returning from Goroka, saying that his actions were the most appropriate to ensure that the situation did not deteriorate further.
"Ministerial intervention should not be taken lightly. It is a matter of last resort," he said.
Warning to students
Tabar urged the students to return to classes by September 7 for the second semester and work towards achieving their programmes at the end of the year.
He warned that if students continue their protest, the semester will be dissolved and more than 500 students stand to lose government sponsorship.
The minister said the unrest at the university had been caused by a small group of students.
Both students and staff have been threatened and locked out of university buildings by the group.
"It is a sad indictment of some of our youths who feel that such forceful physical action has become necessary in order to convey their message," Tabar said.
He added it was unfortunate that the current governing council has not been able to demonstrate the necessary leadership to take control of the situation.
He said an independent negotiator will be appointed to resolve the issues at the university between the council and the small group of students that led the protest.
Campus protesters shot at by police
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand Licence.
Pacific Media Watch
