Makerere students want varsity meals
May 11, 2009
MAKERERE University students’ guild has rejected the council’s decision to scrap meals.
By Conan Businge
MAKERERE University students’ guild has rejected the council’s decision to scrap meals.
The students body argues that scrapping meals would make poor students to starve and compromise the safety of halls of residence since some students would begin to cook in their rooms.
The students’ leaders, who addressed journalists at the university on Saturday, argued that students would waste time looking for meals around the university.
The university council, last week scrapped free meals to all students, due to the high food prices, and the financial squeeze at Uganda’s biggest university.
The new measures will come in effect in the next academic year, which opens on August 15.
However, the students’ guild speaker, Kenneth Massette, said: “The council hastily passed the resolution, without enough consultation.â€
The students allowances, Massette said, are always paid at the end of the semester.
“That implies several students will starve as they wait for the allowances,†Massette said.
The council, in a meeting with the guild on Friday, asked them to put their disagreements on the new resolution, in writing.
In the new system, students on government scholarship will each receive a daily meal allowance of sh2,000, the same amount that the Government spends on each student for university cooked meals.
The university has 6,750 government sponsored students. Of these 4,000 are non-residents.
There are more 2,000 students who have been getting the meals in halls of residences.
The decision cuts across all institutions affiliated to the university, including the Nakawa-based Makerere University Business School.
The council directed the university management to invite private companies to run restaurants in the students’ halls.
MAKERERE University students’ guild has rejected the council’s decision to scrap meals.
The students body argues that scrapping meals would make poor students to starve and compromise the safety of halls of residence since some students would begin to cook in their rooms.
The students’ leaders, who addressed journalists at the university on Saturday, argued that students would waste time looking for meals around the university.
The university council, last week scrapped free meals to all students, due to the high food prices, and the financial squeeze at Uganda’s biggest university.
The new measures will come in effect in the next academic year, which opens on August 15.
However, the students’ guild speaker, Kenneth Massette, said: “The council hastily passed the resolution, without enough consultation.â€
The students allowances, Massette said, are always paid at the end of the semester.
“That implies several students will starve as they wait for the allowances,†Massette said.
The council, in a meeting with the guild on Friday, asked them to put their disagreements on the new resolution, in writing.
In the new system, students on government scholarship will each receive a daily meal allowance of sh2,000, the same amount that the Government spends on each student for university cooked meals.
The university has 6,750 government sponsored students. Of these 4,000 are non-residents.
There are more 2,000 students who have been getting the meals in halls of residences.
The decision cuts across all institutions affiliated to the university, including the Nakawa-based Makerere University Business School.
The council directed the university management to invite private companies to run restaurants in the students’ halls.