Varsity needs overhaul
By Editorial
OUR sister paper, the Sunday Express, this week carried a shocking story about the mess at our premier learning institution, the National University of Lesotho (NUL).
In a candid interview with the Sunday Express, the chairman of the university’s council, Dr Molotsi Monyamane, painted a picture of an institution in terminal decline.
Monyamane said NUL was in such a big mess due to poor governance structures and gross indiscipline among lecturers and students.
The new university council headed by Monyamane clearly has its work cut out.
We are glad that the new council which was appointed in December appears to have hit the road running in its bid to sort out the mess at the university.
The new council has our full blessings.
In one of its biggest decisions so far, the council two weeks ago wielded the axe on former vice-chancellor Professor Adelani Ogunrinade.
Ogunrinade, a Nigerian with impeccable academic credentials, was facing serious charges of embezzling donor funds.
With the allegations weighing heavily on his shoulders, Ogunrinade had in fact become a liability to the university and the nation.
Given the raft of misdeeds Ogunrinade was accused of perpetrating it was clear that his dismissal as NUL boss was long overdue.
With Ogunrinade out of the way, the new council has a golden opportunity to right what went wrong at the university since the Nigerian’s appointment in December 2006.
The council must appoint a competent individual as the chief financial officer of the university.
Other office bearers like the registrar and faculty deans must also be sufficiently empowered to act as checks and balances to the office of vice-chancellor.
The days of the all-powerful and all-knowing vice-chancellor are long gone.
It is the duty of a university council to make policies and set standards of higher learning.
The new council including the new vice-chancellor to be appointed soon clearly have a lot of work to do if they are to turn things around.
The council must break the cycle of brilliant academics who are poor managers. Such poor recruitment strategies have proved costly in the past.
The challenge is in identifying the right candidate for the top job. This will save the council and nation a lot of heartache.
The university needs a man or woman of vision who can haul the institution into the 21st century.
The council needs to bring the university’s academic programmes in line with the demands of modern industry.
In our humble opinion, we think there is something seriously wrong with the quality of graduates from NUL.
When university graduates cannot spell or do basic arithmetic or accounting procedures, then the nation must have real cause to worry.
We are aware of the bitter friction and factionalism within the university’s teaching staff and student body.
But any university worth its salt will always strive to maintain an international outlook by deliberately going all out to recruit brilliant minds from across the globe.
A university that seeks to insulate itself in a cocoon against the wider outside world would only do so at its own peril.
The new council must therefore go out of its way to attract and retain good quality professors regardless of nationality, colour or ethnicity.
All modern and progressive universities thrive on the academic, ethnic and cultural diversity of their students and teaching staff.
The council must also ensure that teaching staff get their hands dirty and devote most of their time to teaching and research.
Teaching is a vocation and those charged with that national responsibility must be seen to be discharging their duties conscientiously.
The business of university lecturers running their small, private enterprises during working hours must come to a stop.
The truth of the matter is that NUL’s reputation is now soiled.
Once a reputation is soiled it is always difficult to reverse.
We expect the new council to work its socks off in restoring lustre to the country’s premier institute of learning.
But this call demands nothing short of a complete overhaul.
Comment by Batho Mosotho on 12 March 2010:
“When university graduates cannot spell or do basic arithmetic or accounting procedures” mona teng lea feteletsa; motho haa qeta primary o tseba ho peleta kapa hona ho kopanya…haeba University e tla nka nako ea eona ho ruta bana ho peleta primary le high school teng ho tla etsoang?????
Comment by Motho Batho on 12 March 2010:
“When university graduates cannot spell or do basic arithmetic or accounting procedures, then the nation must have real cause to worry.”
We need change in this institution at all costs, but we do not have to make a mountain out of a molehill to make things happen. This will make things worse.
Comment by Matlepe on 12 March 2010:
Pele basotho ba tlohella mona, khethollo le lehloeo ha ho letho le tla atleha naheng ea Lesotho. NUL mismanagement is only caused by incompetent & aggressive personnel. NUL academic standard is now questionable and its graduates certificates go via SAQA for evaluation before getting admissions to other SA varsities. Che! Lesotho ruri ke naha e tellehang ka ho fetisisa lefats’eng, ‘me e entsoe ke basotho ba baikhabi ba soele hore hobe joalo.
Comment by anthony on 15 March 2010:
“Pele basotho ba tlohella mona, khethollo le lehloeo ha ho letho le tla atleha naheng ea Lesotho. NUL mismanagement is only caused by incompetent & aggressive personnel. NUL academic standard is now questionable and its graduates certificates go via SAQA for evaluation before getting admissions to other SA varsities. Che! Lesotho ruri ke naha e tellehang ka ho fetisisa lefats’eng, ‘me e entsoe ke basotho ba baikhabi ba soele hore hobe joalo.”
I could not agree with you more. I am a NUL graduate and i can tell youthat in my time at the institution i ihave seen nothing but disgrace. The calibreof students and lecturers is below standard. Motho o ea sekolong sa boemo bo bokalo o lebeletse ho tsoao butsuitse kelello le mekhoa but most people who go to NUL, ba tsoa tengba senyehile ho feta ka moo ba neng ba le kateng ha ba ea.
Mahlapa, joala, bohlola, ho se tsotelle le ho elelloaboleng ba thuto, ho se be le chebelopele, j.j.
Chee, hana ha ho bolele hore bohle ba joalo, empa boholo bo re senyehetse moo ha Maama.
Ke kalima mantsoe hau MONA BASOTHO!! MONA KE ONA!!!!
Comment by anthony on 15 March 2010:
I could not agree with you more. I am a NUL graduate and i can tell you that in my time at the institution i have seen nothing but disgrace. The caliber of students and lecturers is below standard. Motho o ea sekolong sa boemo bo bokalo o lebeletse ho tsoao butsuitse kelello le mekhoa but most people who go to NUL, ba tsoa teng ba senyehile ho feta ka moo ba neng ba le kateng ha ba ea.
Mahlapa, joala, bohlola, ho se tsotelle le ho elelloa boleng ba thuto, ho se be le chebelopele, j.j.
Chee, hOna ha ho bolele hore bohle ba joalo, empa boholo bo re senyehetse moo ha Maama.
Ke kalima mantsoe hau; MONA BASOTHO!! MONA KE ONA!!!!
Comment by 'Na on 17 March 2010:
What Basotho need to do is change the government, everything will be fine if its different. Ntho e nngoe le enngoe is kaput Lesotho mona. Basotho chenchang Administrator hle!!!
Comment by Mokoallo on 17 March 2010:
I bet to differ, ke e ‘ngoe ea multitutes tse produced ke NUL, yes a lot of things may be wrong especially management, but NUL in academic, in that it is not that bad. Lets not judge morally cos mona Mzansi eo le etsang a measuring stick, bana ba teng ba lutse ba engage in sexual acts just about every corner, staircases, bush, even in the lawns….NUL ha ke so utloe ntho e joalo. Of course university is not a church moo bahto ba rupelloang mekhoa…lefapheng la mahlale moo nna ke keneng teng, ruri, ho tsoile likoankoetla…if you doubt check most of Engineering/Science-based companies, post-grad students across SA, Europe and World-wide actually, then be the judge! Ha re se shebeng le lintle not only painting such a bad picture about our own prestigious institution. Yes whereas management e kang ea NUL le ‘mantloaneng e sa exist, ha ho bolele hore everything about NUL is doom and gloom! ‘Na ke mona maburung and proudly excelling ka lebaka la NUL, and le babangata bao ke ba tsebang across SA universities UCT, Stellenbosch, Rhodes, Pretoria, Potch, Wits….name them they are all doing very very very well….if NUL e ne e se standard ba ne ba ke ke ba perform at least not as good. To put a cherry on top, most of them ba sponsoroa ke SA companies…..Kea bothela, ha e nye bolokoe kaofela…..
Comment by kkk on 18 March 2010:
Litaba tsa NUL li thata li batla beng ba tsona. Ha feela ‘muso oa Lesotho o sa tsotelle tsamaiso le botsitso ba sekoklo seo ha ho ntho etla loka. Motho ha a ke a ipotse potso ea hore na mathata a sekolo a hlahile neng.
Comment by oalekapakapa on 22 March 2010:
‘muso o bolileng o tla sitoa ho sheba mathata ka botebo o ka mpa oa lla ka “third party” ‘muso oa Lesotho o hloka ho nka mehato e potlakileng e nang le ponaletso eseng ho isoe lipolotiki mono…ntho engoe le engoe e tla loka.yah well hona le ntho tse ling tse etsoang ke batho ha ba fihla mona tse mpe joalo ka ho latela `muso o litulong le ha o etsa borokoloane.lona ba ipitsang baithute ba khale ba NUL ake le lekeng ho ikopanya le thuso muso ho nts`a mofoka sekolong sen sa lona so that you can be proud of it for the rest of you lifes…
Comment by mause on 26 March 2010:
che sena sekolo sona ho thoeng ke NUL se saletswe feela ke ho tsetelwa hase sekolo ke borokoloane joalo kaha u bolela motho oa heso, ntle le hore bana ba ikoallang ka mesebetsi eleng li lecture tsena tse tlisang mastudents sekolong leka weekend ba tlohele mona le meharo haho ntho eka lokang.ha ole akhente maseru etsa joalo fa babang sebaka sa ho lecture dis only institute ea rona eo re eratang ka hara naha, re batla ho bona ho tsoa linatla likoankoetla le babusi ba ka moso eseng libolu joalo ka ha se ntse se etsa empa hee mohlomong management ona o mocha o senang okunantere otla ke o lokise sekolo sena sa rona.ke rata lesotho ke rata university ea lesotho ha re thusaneng ho baballa sekolo seo se seholo sa rona hle…
Comment by Potso on 6 April 2010:
Ha hona ntho e tla loka mono hle, bolellang LCD e tlohele ho itšunya hohle hle, e ke e atamele sekolo seno ka ho se nka joalo ka gauda ea naha ena ‘me ba lebale lipolotiki tsa bona, sekolo seno joale ka lintho tse ngata tse kang bo Radio Lesotho li qaliloe ke Maroma ha ba ne ba rata hore Basotho le bona ba rutehe ‘me ba rutehele ruri empa ka baka la meharo ea LCD ba rata ho hapa ntho e nnngoe le e nngoe ba e etse ea bona. Ba tlohele ho utloa eka ha ba ka beha emong oa bana ba Basotho ke ho beha motho ea tla liha party ea bona, ha hona liparty ka mono, re hotse li licture li ntse li rata liparty tsa bona, empa haesale ho busa batho bana re utloa mathata feela ka mono, ha pele ho ne ho sa utloahale lerata le tjena. Hee re khathetse