The 44th graduation ceremony was initially supposed to take place on the 30th and 31st of October 2014 for the Schools of Natural Science and Humanities but was a day before postponed due to the untimely death of the Fifth Republican President of Zambia Michael Chilufya Sata. THE University of Zambia (UNZA) management has set the last week of November 2014 as the week for the institution’s 44th graduation ceremony.
UNZA acing public relations manager Stanslous Chewe told the Lusaka Star in an interview that the new dates for the 44th graduation ceremony would be the 26th, 27th and 28th of November 2014.
Mr. Chewe said this year’s graduation ceremony would not last for a week but instead would be held within three days.
He however noted that Registrar’s office had not yet set the specific days on which the different schools at the institution would graduate on.
“The specific dates for the graduation ceremony for the school of Natural Science, Humanities and Education have not yet being set but we will communicate in due course.
The new graduation dates are set to be announced by UNZA management after the burial of the Late President of the Republic of Zambia Michael Chilufya Sata.
Meanwhile a graduand from the School of Agriculture, Martin Simasiku expressed gratitude over the fast move by the UNZA management to set the new graduation dates.
“It is a good move made by the institution to set up the new dates as quickly as possible because we need to start working, ’’ he said.
He explained that most graduands from the School of Agriculture had been promised jobs by various companies they were attached to for internships adding that the delay in the graduation ceremony had put their jobs on hold.
And another granduand from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences Peter Lungu said the postponement of the graduation earlier had inconvenienced a lot of people.
“People had already travelled from far places, only to be told later that the graduation had been postponed. They were inconvenienced, I was inconvenienced,” he noted.
Mr. Lungu was however quick to mention that management had acted with utmost professionalism in resolving the situation.
The 44th graduation ceremony was initially supposed to take place on the 30th and 31st of October 2014 for the Schools of Natural Science and Humanities but was a day before postponed due to the untimely death of the Fifth Republican President of Zambia.
The postponement statement on the UNZA official website read in part, “….To this end, the University of Zambia regrets to inform its graduands, parents and sponsors that the 44th graduation ceremony initially scheduled to take place on Thursday 30 and Friday 31 October 2014 has been postponed to a date to be advised. The inconvenience caused is sincerely regretted.”