Students of Gulu University are set to sit their end of semester exams on January 15, 2018, a week after reporting back to campus.
The development follows both staff and students’ strikes recently. The acting University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jack Nyeko Penmogi says that although suspending the exams was unfortunate, it was the last resort for the administration to restore sanity at the institution.
The exams were re-scheduled due to a strike by academic staff under the umbrella Gulu University Academic Staff Association (GUASA), over accumulated allowances.
The money arising out of extra load assignments has accumulated to 700 million Shillings. As a result, members of the academic staff upheld an earlier decision to stay administration of the exams until their extra load arrears are cleared to zero.
Professor Penmogi says the exams were suspended in consultation with senior authorities of the university including the Chairperson of University Council, the Director of Education and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Sports.
Professor Penmogi said while the 700 million shillings being demanded by academic staff is available, the university is hand tied to disburse the money under a new financial management system.