The past week has seen protests and strikes in the country which almost brought teaching and learning in some institutions to a standstill. The Gambia Teachers Union called for a sit-down strike of teachers in the board schools around the country.
This was necessitated by the nonpayment of salaries to grant-aided schools and the school improvement grants (SIGs). Despite the government announcing through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs that all funds have been released, the leadership of the GTU stood its ground and went ahead with a sit-down strike by teachers in these board schools.
In a related action, members of the University Staff and Faculty Association began an indefinite sit-down strike as a way of protesting the ‘unfair dismissal’ of two of their colleagues who were accused and found guilty by the university authorities of “tarnishing” the image of the nation’s apex learning institution. In solidarity with the two lecturers, the students held a daylong protest at the Kanifing campus.
With the VC unwilling to talk to the mass of the agitated protesting students and unable to leave his office till late evening, the armed paramilitary police had to resort to firing tear gas to disperse them. The police said that the students were illegally protesting as they did not have a permit before embarking on the protest. The students were however adamant that they had not broken any laws as they simply gathered at their campus to demand that their dismissed lecturers be reinstated.
Arguably, the police have a point. And so too the students. Both the student leadership and the university administration should not have allowed this matter to degenerate into the violent confrontation it did. They should have given dialogue a chance and agreed on a compromise which would have averted the unfortunate situation last evening.
Teachers downing their tools in sit-down strikes and students engaging in protests do not portray a good image of the education sector and the country at large. The ministers of lower and higher education should intervene now and in the future to avert a recurrence of such situations which have serious impacts on teaching and learning.
