Involve students in planning to avoid strikes - Balimwezo

The Nakawa mayor Ronald Balimwezo has asked Kyambogo University to involve students in all its planning processes in order to reduce strikes.

"In order to reduce student strikes in Kyambogo University, it is imperative for the management to involve the students in the institution's planning process. If the students are involved in planning for the institution, it would be difficult for them to strike over something they have participated in," Balimwezo advised.

Balimwezo made the remarks during his visit to the institution on Wednesday on a fact-finding mission on why the students went on strike protesting the decision of management to increase tuition and internship fees.

Balimwezo said it is a pity to see that whenever there is a strike at institutions of higher learning, the management calls in the army and the Police to curb unrest with teargas and other means. He said if management had involved the students in planning for the university, such nasty incidents would not occur.  

Kyambogo University students leave the university premises following Tuesday's strike. Photo by Wilfred Sanya

"The government has changed the billing system in all the public institutions. So, it would have been incumbent upon the management of any university or other institutions of higher learning to communicate government's decisions to the students' representatives during interfacing with students in such meetings." Balimwezo explained. 

He said strikes in universities have become a lifestyle and they deter development. If the municipalities are to make any headway, such incidents must be avoided.

Balimwezo said he was told that the billing process was changed from E-campus to a government required system (AIMS), a system that required the management to communicate to the students on behalf of the government.