Common sense must prevail at uni

 THE University of Technology (Unitech) saga took a new twist last week with the National Court decision to reinstate the previous council headed by Phillip Stagg that had removed former vice-chancellor Dr Albert Schram.
Justice Don Sawong’s ruling last Wednesday in the Lae National Court could result in either a quick fix for the long-standing crisis or a worsening of the situation at the Lae campus.
While former chairman Stagg will not resume his role because his term has expired, reinstated pro-chancellor Ralph Saulep seems determined to honour the previous council’s decision to keep Schram from returning to Unitech.
Saulep, a Port Moresby-based private lawyer, came out firing on Friday by condemning Schram for supporting the boycotting of classes by students that has been going on since the start of the academic year.
It seems that Schram, who is waiting in Australia for official clearance to return to Papua New Guinea, has been busy on the social network “enticing” Unitech students to continue with their boycott despite pleas by Higher Education Minister Delilah Gore for them to return to classes while the matter is being resolved.
Saulep described the former vice-chancellor’s comments praising the non-violent boycott as “creating a new chapter in the history of the PNG student movement” as irresponsible and unwarranted.  “No responsible government should ever encourage or allow an institutional head to promote the boycotting of classes as a subversive tactic to achieve their objectives, irrespective of whether such boycott is violent or peaceful.”
We tend to agree with Saulep that Schram should not take advantage of the situation by encouraging students to continue with their boycott.
As a leading educationist he should be more concerned that they are missing out on valuable academic lessons and jeopardising their studies will not be beneficial for them in the long term.
A high-ranking government official has condemned the former vice-chancellor’s comments on the social network as “unprofessional and irresponsible”.
He says Schram should not be encouraging the Unitech students to stay away from classes and jeopardise their future and that of the university.  “Their future depends on their academic results and therefore it is crucial that they return to classes immediately and allow the situation to be resolved in an amicable manner by the relevant authorities. The continuation of their boycott will not help their cause and will make things worse for them.”
We agree with the government official that Schram should stop using social media to push his personal agenda because that will not resolve anything.
While the court’s decision may be viewed as untimely, it could spell the beginning of the end of this long-standing crisis.
As Justice Sawong ordered, the Unitech administration must within three working days call a council meeting to appoint the minister’s nominees to fill the vacancies in the council, appoint the chancellor and acting vice-chancellor. The judge ordered that the appointed acting vice-chancellor take immediate steps to take full control of the situation at Unitech and restore normalcy, including the commencement of classes.
Indeed, it is encouraging to note that Saulep has kick-started the process of restoring normalcy at the Lae campus.  “As acting chancellor, I have written to the minister and interim administration to convene a council meeting so that urgent business can be dealt with.”
The future of the university and its 2014 academic year now rests on decisions by the O’Neill Government through Minister Gore and the actions of the Unitech administration in abiding by the orders of the National Court.
For their part, the students should respect the court’s decision and the rule of law by ending their boycott and returning to classes immediately.
Schram should abide by the court’s decision and refrain from inciting further unrest at Unitech.
Common sense, responsibility and professionalism must prevail on all sides if an amicable resolution is to be achieved and normalcy restored at one of our premier learning institutions.