Frank Maponya

Frank Maponya

The head of the University of Limpopo, Turfloop campus, Mahlo Mokgalong, says the institution faces a shortage of skilled personnel in important fields of study.

He said there was a serious shortage of academics in the country and the Limpopo University was hard hit by the problem.

Mokgalong, who is vice-chancellor and principal of the institution, said the problem was a result of the university's inability to attract academics with particular qualifications.

He said there were 182 vacancies at the institution and they were struggling to fill them.

According to Mokgalong, the institution had only 19 staff members in the pharmacy department and five each in optometry and accounting.

"This shortage of personnel is impacting negatively on the institution because we are unable to produce skilled people in those fields.

"For instance, for us to start thinking of being accredited or training chartered accountants, we need to have at least 10 academics in that field."