Disruption due to union strike growing at Antananarivo

Disruption has been growing at Madagascar’s leading university, the University of Antananarivo, as members of higher education and research union SECES have continued their strike demanding a law for university autonomy, which the constitutional high court has ruled unconstitutional.

A meeting last week of the university’s advisory scientific council, including deans of faculty and staff representatives, sounded an alarm, reported Midimadagasikara.

Members agreed that, while there was a right to strike, there was also a right to teach. They called on Antananarivo’s president “immediately to apply legal provisions for the smooth functioning of the university”.

For greatest impact, SECES had been calling for the suspension of all educational activities at Antananarivo at the crucial end of the academic year, disrupting examinations and the calendar of presentations of research theses, reported Midimadagasikara.

But, with lack of support from other teachers and students, and some exams taking place, SECES members blocked entrances of buildings on Ankatso campus, an action condemned by the scientific committee as “obstructing the free use of public property”, reported Midimadagasikara.

It was the students – who had turned a deaf ear to calls from SECES to skip their studies – who were paying a high price in the confrontation, and they were now making themselves heard with demands for resumption of courses at Ankatso, reported Midimadagasikara.

“We urge the various responsible parties to find a solution to this crisis at the university, so education can return to normal,” the paper reported a student representative from the faculty of economics, management and sociology as saying.

Meanwhile, faced with the total disorder that was gaining ground at the university, the higher education and research ministry was “shrugging its shoulders”, reported Midimadagasikara.

It said the minister, Béatrice Assoumacou, had not found a solution to the demands of SECES. — Compiled by Jane Marshall.

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