Thousands of university students across Africa remain at home after their institutions were shut down following protests due to various reasons.
The protests seem to be the new way of the students communication with the management.
There have been increasing cases of university students’ unrests across the continent, most notably now, the massive South African university students protests triggered by the fee hike in one of the universities.
The University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa continues to be at a standstill after its students went to the streets to protest an increase in the university’s fee for the year 2016.
The students say that the increase will lock many students out of the institution as they will not be able to raise the hiked fees.
The protests have now spread to other campuses across the country, as the students unite to demand that university fees be slashed to enable every South African to be able to access higher education.
Lamentably, university strikes are continuing to be a common feature across Africa. Various universities across different countries on the continent have experienced student unrests and protests over various issues.
This month alone, three Kenyan Universities have been shut down following student protests over a range of issues.
Maseno University, located in the western region of Kenya, remains closed after students went on rampage following disputed student elections. A confrontation between the university’s students and anti-riot police deployed to calm the situation resulted in the deaths of two students.
Another university in the western region of the country, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University also remains shut after its students went on rampage, also due to an alleged disputed student’s union election process.
The Technical University of Mombasa was also closed after riots by its students over an alleged increase in fees. The students destroyed property and even set two trucks ablaze to show their anger over the fee increment.
Away from Kenya, students from Nigeria’s University of Lagos last month held protests over an alleged bedbug invasion in their halls of residence. The students ferried their bedding to the campus gates and shut shut all access points demanding that the administration solves the bedbug manace that made their nights miserable.
This trend is a major concern for the education sector of the continent. Whether the protests are the best communication modes available for the students or they are just a result of failure by the managements to handle the fronted issues in time, they lead to massive destruction of properties that impact on development negatively.
