Students of Fourah Bay College have taken a swipe at the college administration.
In an open letter submitted on 1 May 2014 and addressed to the Vice Chancellor of the college, the FBC Human Rights Clinic expresses "dissatisfaction with and strongly condemns the rate at which students’ rights and welfare at Fourah Bay College have degenerated into the mire".
Signed by its president, Samuel A. Olivant, the Clinic says since the administration banned students' union activities following a poll marred by violence "students lack access to a myriad of facilities due them, and continue to suffer an awful lot of constraints". These constraints, the letter goes on, include the alleged taking by the administration of "unilateral decisions even if they are harsh and onerous to the student populace. As a result, the usual semester student/administration meeting that seeks to bridge the gap between administration and students has become a thing of the past."
They say "skyrocketed college fees do not reflect the facilities available for students. Constraints in sitting accommodation for students persist. There are far less classrooms than are needed for the number of students admitted every year into the university, and students still take classes in the sun at the open Adjai Crowther Amphitheatre."
They also complain about the lack of effective electricity on campus which they say "has often retarded the delivery of services to students, especially registration at the Finance Department".
The students also cite frustration saying "the university authorities do not seem to be in a hurry to organize any student union elections. The Clinic notes with dismay the lack of a student union body to serve as a mouthpiece for the concerns and welfare of the student populace". They say the annual student inter-house athletics meet "has become...uninteresting" because the three halls no longer have leaders owing to the ban on student activism.
The complain about the unavailability of hostels thereby worsening the poor transportation problems the students have been confronted with in the last four years. "Whether or not there is a plan to rehabilitate the hostels has not been adequately communicated to the students" the letter goes on.
"It seems all the university is interested in is to see the end of an academic year and thus conduct examinations, not minding even where it becomes pellucid that most lecturers have not fully exhausted their course outlines" they complain, adding that the college "is nothing to write home about as it lacks contemporary material" and cannot accommodate the increased student population.
(C) Politico 06/05/14
