The final examinations for the academic year 2020-2021 at the National University of Lesotho will resume on February 14 and end on 27, 2022.
This, the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the National University of Lesotho (NUL), Prof. Olusola Isaac Fajana said when addressing the media regarding the current developments at NUL on Monday at Roma.
The VC said management has observed misperceptions and misinformation about the operational challenges which have been dominating the media, saying they were not true because of the lack of research.
He said in October 2021, the University excluded students from the campus in pursuance of its responsibility for maintaining, promoting the efficiency and good order of the university, noting that this was in line with the NUL Act of 1992 Section 16 Subsection 8 (b) which gives the VC the power to exclude any student or member of staff of the university from any part of the NUL premises.
Prof. Fajana said he reported the exclusion of students due to their disruptive behaviour to the Senate and the Senate ratified the exclusion of such students and then decided that classes will be suspended for two weeks.
He noted that when the two weeks expired, it was the time for African Union Sports Committee (AUSC Region 5) games to begin and students were asked to vacate the premises so that the renovations would be completed for the games.
The VC however said online learning did continue via Thuto, noting that when the AUSC Region 5 called for a restriction on the number of people who can access the campus, only international and post graduate’s students were granted access to the campus for practical and research activities hence the impression that some of the lecturers have not been performing their duties are being investigated.
He said since the resumption of work, teaching has been taking place in a planned manner with most work being done online and face to face sessions being used for practical sessions.
Moreover, he said the University is in the process of migrating its learning management system known as Thuto to cloud in order to address the current challenges which arise from the limited server capacity and high maintenance costs.
He further mentioned that the migration of the learning management system is more affordable and will allow more students and lecturers to access Thuto with ease.
With regard to students’ admissions and sponsorship, Prof. Fajana said NUL received a total of 4 424 new applications for admission to the University and 593 new applications for postgraduates for the 2021/22 academic year, saying of these figures, NUL admitted 2 937 students out of which 2 560 are undergraduates while 377 are postgraduates.
He noted that only 1 820 local students are likely to receive bursaries from the National Manpower Development Secretariat (NMDS), saying NMDS allocates the quota of 1 820 bursaries to NUL which are distributed as follows: 1 620 for undergraduates and 200 for post graduate students and 1 117 must source their tuition funding from other sponsors.
He also mentioned that NUL through the Institution of Extra Mural Studies (IEMS) admitted 497 students, adding that IEMS Is growing and the management is happy about its improvements.
The VC noted that in as much as the NUL is outlining its success, the University has had challenges, saying NUL has experience ICT system challenges with the increasing demand for most of its operations to be done online and these challenges are receiving attention.
In conclusion, he noted that the recruitment of the university staff is overseen by the Academic Staff Appointment Committee and all positions are advertised for individuals to apply for such vacant positions.
Responding to the question relating to the newly introduced undergraduate programme, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kananelo Mosito (KC) noted that it is true that NUL did receive funds from the United States of America to establish journalism course and the university has gone through all stages for the course to be credited, noting that next aca noting that next academic year the programme will be out.
Since the establishment of NUL, Prof. Olusola Isaac Fajana is the 10^th NUL Vice-Chancellor and he assumed duty on 2^nd August 2021.
By Staff Reporter: Noliwe Velaphe