The Student Union Governments of IPAM, FBC, and COMAHS, the constituent colleges of the University of Sierra Leone, have in a press statement put out on Thursday, November 26, 2020 raised serious concern over the ongoing strike action by ASA ( Academic Staff Association) which has caused them to be uncertain as to when their second semester exams will continue.
The progress of their second semester examination had been abruptly interrupted when lecturers of the University decided to go on strike. The Academic staff of the University had been prompted to take the action because they noticed that the Government of Sierra Leone, during the reading of the budget speech recently delivered by the Minister of Finance in the well of Parliament, had not reviewed their conditions of service which was last reviewed in 2011.
The lecturers finally resorted to down their tool following the expiration of a 21-day ultimatum they had given to the Government of Sierra Leone, which to their dismay was not factored in the 2021 budget.
According to the student, the concerns and demands of ASA-USL are genuine and very reasonable in the face of a national economy that has attracted inflation of about 137% since 2011 to date, while the salaries of lecturers remain the same.
According to the statement by the students of the USL, the ASA-USL’s strike action resulted from the failure to act on the part of the USL administration, and the Ministry of Education thus depriving them of the right to write their exams and being relieved to spend their holidays.
The Students’ Union presidents from all three campuses of USL, through the statement communicated to the Government of the Republic of Sierra Leone, USL Administration and ASA-USL said publicly ‘’our dissatisfaction and frustration in the inability expressed thus far by the negotiating parties in handling this issue within the shortest possible time.’’
They informed the public that they had exercised patience and restraint in respecting the process of dialogue so far, “believing that something good was going to come out of the negotiations in days past”. “The depression or psychological effect this has on students cannot be measured”.
The student union bodies said that “if a positive outcome from the ongoing negotiations does not go beyond Friday, 27th November 2020, 5:00pm informing us of swift continuity of exams, starting Monday 1st December 2020, we the students will make our voices heard even harder in ways provided for by law.’’
The SU governments admonished students across the three campuses of the University of Sierra Leone to stay calm in preparedness for the continuity of exams, and urged them to rely on the enduring leadership of the various Students’ Union Governments of the three campuses to continue to lead and help bring the desired result.
They promised that they will keep the general student populace informed on the recent happening as the situation continues to progress viz-a-viz their next move as a combined force.
By Yeanoh Sesay
27/11/2020. ISSUE NO: 7959