UPNG lifts ban

 By LUKE KAMA

CLASSES will resume within the next two weeks at the University of Papua New Guinea, according to acting chancellor Dr Nicholas Mann.
He urged students to return to classes as the failure to do so “will do more damage to their own academic pursuits”.
Students at the School of Medicine and Health Science will resume classes on Monday. Students at the main campus will resume classes on June 13.
The university council decided to lift the suspension of semester one it imposed on May 24 following the four-week boycott of classes by students.
The students had been demanding, among other things, that Prime Minister Peter O’Neill step aside while police investigate allegations of corruption against him.
Mann called on the students to return to classes to complete their study programmes for Semester One.
He said the academic senate had revised the academic calendar for 2016.
“And this afternoon, I have the pleasure to announce that the council has lifted the suspension of the first semester for 2016,” Mann said.
“What that means is that semester one will now resume.
He said the academic programmes for the semester would resume from where it left off when the boycott began.
“The senate have revised the academic calendar and semester one will be completed,” he said.
“After that, students will proceed straight into Semester Two.”
He said the suspension of classes would have given time for students to rethink their actions and for university and its staff to reorganise themselves.
“So in essence, the academic programme for 2016 academic year has been saved and they will continue as per the revised calendar that the council has approved this afternoon,” Mann said.
He appealed to parents and sponsors to encourage students to return to the university and continue their studies.