Students ponder strike action against enrolment chaos

Students at the Université des Comores fear a wasted academic year, and are considering strike action in protest against lack of access to their studies due to financial and logistical problems.

The 10,000 students with provisional places at the university faced a double problem at the start of the academic year, reported Radio France International, or RFI.

First, taking into account the situation in the country where public employees claimed their salaries were four months in arrears, the period for enrolment was too short, because many students were financially dependent on their parents.

The second obstacle concerned the logistics of confirming their enrolments, said RFI. Students had to pay their fees and get a receipt, which they had to present at the university to validate their registration and receive a student card giving them access to their courses.

There were only six points for the 10,000 students to pay – two counters at the sole post office in the capital Moroni, and four at the university itself, according to RFI.

Although some students had managed to pay, they had been unable to obtain student cards in spite of waiting for days at the university, and had been unable to attend courses.

The university’s administration had remained deaf to student demands to prolong the period of enrolment.

Students observed a day’s withdrawal from courses, and student associations were considering striking in protest against the university authorities, “which showed contempt for its students whose fees represented €1.2 million [US$1.3 million]", reported RFI.

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