Copy of one of the letters from Jacque Fame Ndongo |
The students we gathered have released names of some studentswho they say were obnoxiously admitted into the Higher Institute of Transport and Logistics by UBa officials. A source in the Ministry hinted that the Minister is aware that the VC had earlier told students to talk to the minister to come over an run the school. An atmosphere of uncertainty now looms at UBa as the students have been informed of the letter to the Minister.
Strike threats hover at the University of Bamenda-UBa as some
students of the Higher Institute of Transport and Logistic (18) have
been ordered by the Vice Chancellor Tafah Edukat Edward and Teguia
Alexis, the Director of HiTL to pack their belongings and quit the
campus or else face the unexpected. Although the Minister of Higher
Education, Jacque Fame Ndongo had in a correspondence instructed UBa
officials to admit all the 20 students on the waiting list, the call
seems to fall on deaf ears. The story goes that the students (20 of
them) were admitted on the waiting list (per the policy of UBa) and were
asked to attend classes while waiting for the minister to visa the list
authorizing their final admission and registrations. Since January 26,
these students we were reliably informed have been attending classes.
Last May 28, 2015, the Minister of Higher Education in response to
letter No 15/1997/UBa/VC/D/ISTL of May 18, 2015 titled “Admission of
students on the waiting list into HiTL” instructed the Vice-Chancellor
to admit the students (20) for the academic year 2014/2015 given that
with the LMD system, each semester is independent. In that same letter,
Minister Jacque Fame Ndongo emphasized that the admission should be done
with immediate effect and that he should be informed latter. Our
Investigation revealed that the minsiter’s letter was recieved at UBa on
June 3, 2015.
Matters came to a head when the (18) students were
told to leave the campus or face the rage of the police. This was when
their peers were writing end semester exams. Tears, anger and
frustration took the centre stage when the students discovered that
after having attended school now for the past three months (renting
houses and incurring other expenditures) the director of HITL has now
forbidden them from writing the end of semester exams. The question on
every lip at UBa is whether there is some battle somewhere that the
innocent students are being thrown into the street given that the habit
in UBa is (and has been) to take all those on waiting list ( even for
schools with automatic employment after graduation. Why then should HITL
- with no automatic employment after graduation be an exception, many
have questioned.
In a bit to find out the truth, this reporter
rang the Vice Chancellor’s phone twice. In a hysterical effort to
explain why he is recalcitrant to his boss’ instruction, Prof. Tafah
Edukat Edward said that he told the students to go back home and that
they would be given pride of place next year. He also added that with
already 99 students, the Director of HiTL told him that there is no
space to accommodate more 18 students given that it is a professional
institution. He also emphasized that the students had not written the
first semester exams and that it would be difficult for UBa to get
places where they could carry out their internship given that interns
are supposed to be in the field by July this year. However, when this
reporter contacted him on phone the second time, Prof. Edukat said he
would find a solution was short to say which and how soon. “When it
will be done, I will inform the Minister” he concluded. When this
reporter rang the Director of HiTL, Dr. Teguia Alexis to get his own
side of the story, he simply responded that he was attending a ceremony
and could only be available on Monday.
Speaking to this reporter
in tears, frustration and anguish (some of the students) names withheld
lamented that the arguments by the VC were not tenable at all. They said
that the plan to chase them out of the campus is seemingly a well
calculated act to frustrate the minister’s decision. Some of them even
threatened hunger strike and that if the worse comes, they would prefer
to commit suicide on the VC’s doorstep than to live and see their future
being trampled into the doldrums after their parents have sacrificed
much for them. One of the students said that UBa officials even
threatened that if any of them is spotted in the campus, they will be
arrested and detained. Another remarked that one teacher told them that
the school is even underutilized. “I feel very disgust and ready to
starve myself to death than to be thrown into the street. This is the
beginning of frustration”…
(To be Continued)
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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