Fendall, Montserrado County – A few months ago, the various campuses of the University of Liberia were in disarray following a pronouncement by the Board of Trustees of the university increasing tuition from L$175 an equivalent of US$2 to US$4 per credit, making students to go at loggerheads with the administration.
“To be frank, when it is raining and you enter the building, you will notice that students do not have space to even sit to listen to instructors as they teach.”
“We want the administration to see reason to renovate this building like the way the other buildings were renovated by the Chinese and the Americans”- Edward Norman, student of the University of Liberia
The University administration announced that the increment was necessary due to the numerous constraints facing the University as a result of low budgetary support from National government which has compounded the problems confronting the institution.
The increment initially met a strong disapproval from the students who led series of protest to draw attention to their plight.
Though the students have slowed down on protest, the learning atmosphere at the UL is still not conducive according to students who spoke to FrontPageAfrica on the Fendall campus of the University Wednesday.
Students are still learning in dilapidated academic buildings at the University of Liberia Fendall Campus and find it difficult to sit in classes when it is raining.
A leakage in the building means students must sit somewhere else to avoid the leak from the ceiling.
The Fendall Campus is hosting nearly all the colleges at the University with the exception of the College of Business.
Uncomfortable condition
As the new academic semester just commenced during the current rainy season, students are going through hell and high water to attend classes. Several students lamented the harsh learning condition in separate interviews with FPA.
Edward Norman, a student of the University attending classes at the Fendall Campus said he is not happy with the learning condition on campus. He said classes have become uncomfortable due to leakage in the building.
“We are struggling to learn here,” he said. “To be frank, when it is raining and you enter the building, you will notice that students do not have space to even sit to listen to instructors as they teach. We want the administration to see reason to renovate this building like the way the other buildings were renovated by the Chinese and the Americans,” Norman appealed.
Students at the Fendall Campus are also calling on the administration to negotiate for more buses to enable students compute due to the fact that most undergraduate colleges have been transferred to Fendall.
Some students on Wednesday expressed their disappointment over the resumption of classes during the current rainy season.
“We cannot be fighting for car under the rain like the way students used to go and wait for buses on main campus on Capitol Hill. It is no longer like that as all of the buses cannot be found.
These days we use commercial cars to get to school. Sometimes we get to Red-Light and there is no car so we get late for classes many days,” James Randall of TJR Faulkner College of Agriculture at Fendall explained.
Students are also unable to get on campus due to limited buses, thus coercing some to ride motorbikes to get to classes on time.
For the past two weeks, according to some students, there are only two buses to take about 20,000 students to and fro. Students say that the US$4 increase in tuition is making no impact in the learning conditions on campus.
Not to my knowledge
When contacted via mobile, the Vice President for University Relations, Norris Tweah promised to provide details about the leaking buildings on the Fendall campus at a later date.
Vice President Tweah said he will ask his administrative staffs at Fendall about leakages in some buildings, saying it is not to his knowledge that a building is leaking on campus.
“Well, it is late now but I can provide you with more details tomorrow when I find out from staffs at Fendall. As for the bus issue, it has not been brought to my knowledge that there are not sufficient buses. The last time I checked there were buses running,” he explained.
The history of students fighting for chairs on campus is not strange at the university. It becomes more difficult for students to sit in the classrooms which are experiencing a severe leakage.
Students can be seen jamming the walls of the class, avoiding water dripping from the rotten ceilings of the building. The Academic Building at Fendall was occupied by internally displaced people during the civil crises.
The building hosted thousands of internally displaced Liberians from Nimba, Bong, Margibi, Montserrado and other counties.
Edwin G. Genoway, Jr [email protected]