Educationists in the country have faulted the University of Malawi (Unima) Council for suspending the delinking process of constituent colleges of the university which commenced four years ago.

Unima has four constituent colleges namely The Polytechnic, Chancellor College, College of Medicine and Kamuzu College of Nursing.

In a statement, deputy university registrar Ashanie Gawa said the decision was made at the 117th Extraordinary meeting of the Council held on January 20, 2021.

According to the statement, a functional review will be held to guide the Council on the way forward.

Education expert Dr Steve Sharra told YFM in an interview that the decision is unfortunate as it will negatively affect education hence the need for government to reconsider its decision.

Dr Sharra said this will deny students access to tertiary education as the delinking process was aimed at increasing number of students having access to tertiary education.

“It is like we are taking one step forward and two steps backward,” he said.

Commenting through his Facebook page, Limbani Nsapato, Education policy analyst and Edukans Foundation country director, questioned the legitimacy of the decision since the former president- Peter Mutharika already assented to the delinking process.

Meanwhile, Unima Council says the decision was done beyond its legal powers and that it was not aligned with its powers and the senate.