Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — Students in all Ethiopian colleges and universities were required to get down to business Monday after the government announced it had conceded to their demand.

Studies were disrupted in the last three weeks after students boycotted demanding the withdrawal of police who were detailed for guard duty at the University of Addis Ababa.

In a statement issued late Sunday, the Ministry of Education said measures would be taken against those who would interrupt the resumption of classes from Monday.

According to the statement, the university was authorised to take "severe measures" against those trying to disrupt the teaching process under any pretext.

It said that some students of Addis Ababa University had written a petition to parliament raising issues "unrelated" to their earlier demand which had led to the boycott of classes during the last three weeks.

"These were undoubtedly tied to issues that some political organisations were tacitly raising," the ministry said without elaborating on the "issues" or naming the political organisations.

The statement said that by the weekend over 9,000 of the students of Addis Ababa university had been registered for re-adminission.

"Only a few of the remaining 5 percent of the students were making it difficult for the overwhelming majority to resume classes," it said. The university has about 10,000 students.

The ministry also advised college and university students in 10 other towns around the country, who had resorted to class boycotts in sympathy with their colleagues at Addis Ababa university, to resume classes immediately.

The Ethiopian government pays up to 210,000 birr (about 1,200 dollars) annually for every boarding student in its institutions of higher learning.