UPNG students boycott classes
By Norm Dixon
Angry University of Papua New Guinea students on May 22 launched a class boycott and a blockade of the Port Moresby campus in response to a proposed restructure of the university. Students claim the restructure is simply a means to cuts costs and will result in poorer quality degrees and less study time.
It is proposed that UPNG's 32 departments be merged into five new schools. Semesters will be increased from two per year to three. Annual fees will rise from 600 kina (A$430) to nearly K1000 ($715). The proposal, which will come into effect next year, has been passed by the university senate and is awaiting ratification by the PNG parliament.
Students barricaded entrances to the university, preventing staff from entering. Lecture rooms were left locked after students "confiscated" keys from security guards. Students said the boycott would continue until the restructure was shelved.
A lunchtime student meeting on May 21 also demanded that the administration make available to the Students Representative Council all documents relating to the changes.
UPNG vice-chancellor Dr Rodney Hills told the Port Moresby Post-Courier on May 25 that the restructure was necessary because of the government's "dwindling support". He threatened that if the restructure was not approved, departments would be moved to other tertiary institutions and "weak academic departments" abolished.