Student collective calls on prime minister for solutions

A new student collective, which represents university, high school, and technical and vocational education learners, has called on the prime minister of Côte d’Ivoire to take action to meet its financial and other demands after higher education and education ministers failed to respond.

Jean Vincent Kouamé, representative of Assises de la Jeunesse Estudiantine et Scolaire de Côte d’Ivoire (AJESCI), explained at a press conference at the University Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Cocody that the collective had met ministers but nothing had been done, reported Fraternité Matin. So they were asking the prime minister, Hamed Bakayoko, to find solutions.

“It’s clear that after five months and various meetings with our supervisory ministers, we can conclude that, every time, the problems have been shelved and promises not kept. This situation is progressively creating a crisis of confidence between the administrative authorities and the organisations defending students, as we are doing,” FratMat reported him as saying. “We have decided to turn to the prime minister to make ourselves heard.”

FratMat reported that AJESCI’s demands included that there should be no increase in fees for doctoral studies; the reduction of provisional enrolment charges for new students from 10,000 francs (US$18) to 2,500 francs; upgrading the BTS, a technical diploma, in private higher education to the status of a first degree; regulation of grants for students selected for masters in research and PhDs; and settling the situation of the 2019 intake of new students who were still awaiting guidance on suitable courses.

Formed in May 2020, AJESCI is a collective bringing together four unions representing students in university, high school, and technical and vocational education, reported FratMat. — Compiled by Jane Marshall.

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