Polye urges UOG students to return to classes

 THE government has urged protesting students at the University of Goroka to return to classes immediately.

Don Polye, the Minister for Science and Higher Education, said he had directed the university chancellor Benias Sabumei to address the grievances raised by the students.

“The students must go back to school and classes must resume immediately,” Polye said.

Some students have started filling out forms to formalise their withdrawal from UOG and were waiting for Polye to come and talk to them.

Polye said he was confident that the list of grievances by the students would be satisfactorily addressed.

The university council is expected to convene an urgent meeting to consider the specific issues Polye had briefed Sabumei on.

More than 3,000 students have been boycotting classes demanding that the 52 points raised a petition given to the university be addressed before they return to classes.

They want vice-chancellor Dr Gairo Onagi to resign immediately and to have the Students Representative Council reinstated. It was dissolved in 2011 and replaced by a Student Voice Council.

On Monday, Sabumei told the students that Onagi has a legally-binding contract and could not be forced to resign. He said the students did not provide any credible evidence to warrant his resignation.

According to a statement from Onagi attached to the withdrawal forms, every student came to UOG at their own accord and if they decided to withdraw, the choice was theirs.

Onagi said if a student had satisfied all withdrawal requirements and were deemed to have withdrawn from studies, they should leave the campus immediately.