By Nyima Bah
The Vice Chancellor of the University of The Gambia has issued a statement addressing issues about the planned sit-down strike by the faculty and staff association slated for Thursday 1st July, 2021.
The statement circulated online and confirmed by UTG Communications Department quoted Professor Faqir as saying that the strike is “very bizarre and incomprehensible” since there were no prior negotiations or dialogue between the management and the UTGFSA executive.
“Furthermore, management condemns such action in the strongest possible term and wishes to assure students that exams will proceed as scheduled. Failure to administer exams by UTG staff from 1st to 15 July 2021 would constitute an act of gross misconduct with grave consequences. All heads of Departments, Deans and Faculty officers are to complete all the exams logistically as soon as possible,” the statement from the VC stated.
However, a member of the staff told The Standard that the strike will go ahead as planned and that out of 160, only 4 voted against it which means it is popular among the staff.
“We have long been bringing our grievances to the attention of the Management and even to the level of the government but some of our concerns remain unaddressed since 2019. The Management does not seem to care about the concern of the staff. They only operate on their own, often travelling without informing the academic staff among other things. As far as there is no mechanism in place for any negotiations, the strike will go ahead and the staff would boycott the exams,” our source within the staff warned.
