Students protest at resits scheduling

Students from the human sciences research unit of the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso have prevented tests taking place because, they claim, the rules for resits have not been followed, reported Le Pays of Ouagadougou.

The university year had been disrupted for some time, said the paper, and other circumstances had made the situation more complicated. In the human sciences research unit (UFR-SH), while some students were preparing for resits, others were claiming conditions were not right because the texts governing the sessions had not been respected.

Sory Omar Traoré, UFR-SH delegate of the National Association of Burkina Students (ANEB), told Le Pays that there was not a long enough interval between the posting of the programme for the resits session on 30 December and the assessments that were due to start on 5 January.

The unit's director, Professor Moussa Willy Batenga, held negotiations with ANEB representatives on 4 January.

Batenga said he had made concessions on two of the students' demands, concerning tight time limits, but that the students had misinterpreted the rules. He explained the scheduling rules, which gave two weeks after results were announced before the resits.

The results came out between 23 and 30 December, he said, so the second session should have begun on 5 January, but following his concessions this was put back until 10 January.

But Traoré said students who had not received the outcome of their claims were not in a position to take the test. ANEB demanded that the results of the claims should be known first. But Batenga called on the students to leave their teachers alone, to avoid increasing the delay further.

* This article is drawn from local media. University World News cannot vouch for the accuracy of the original reports.