Don't Move Mzuni

In a recent news report the Vice Chancellor Professor Landson Mhango is reported as having said that Mzuzu University is not in a hurry to relocate to another campus. This is the right decision although it still begs the question: should the university relocate in the first place?. The model of universities as isolated, elite places that provided all the social facilities to students – accommodation, sports facilities, health and entertain facilities – is no longer valid if it ever was. This is particularly the case for a university like Mzuni which relies on fee paying students. It will serve considerable amounts of resources if it relies on the services that the city of Mzuzu as a whole provides to its citizenry. Students’ fees can then be concentrated on teaching facilities. It is also easier for students to find accommodation within the city and transport than in some isolated campus outisde the city limits. One has only to visit Makerere, Nairobi and Addis to see the advantages of locating the universities within the city and compare the difficulties that isolated Unima or Buanda have. . One can sustain a whole range of night classes and enrol much larger numbers of students in a city university as one is likely to be much less constrained by student housing requirements. What Mzuni ought to be doing now is demanding for more space from the city authorities or government around where it is located now.