Student Strike at UB

As I asked in an email home: are we in Botswana or Nigeria? The UB students – or at least some of them – have been on a rampaging strike for nearly a week now. The University is still open though classes are definitely being disrupted and there have been some incidents. The issue is their government allowances – which they get on top of attending UB for free, free hostel accommodation and food at the refectories. Apparently the last big strike was two years ago and I am told that the students only ever strike over this issue – their allowances. There seem to be two issues, one has to do with the extent to which they continue to get their allowances when they are retaking classes. Indeed, some students, quite comfortable with their university life, may have an incentive to hang on. The other issue has to do with living in the hostels or not. You get more allowance if you live off campus but you are only supposed to do that if you have a good reason. So…..I was on campus on Monday at the book store and saw hundreds of students marching by, many with sticks (branches from trees) on their way to the Parliament building where the Finance Minister was making the annual presentation of the national budget and they were going to lodge their complaints. Needless to say they were stopped by the riot police (sounds a little scarier than they appear to be; we saw them later blocking off a road). Unfortunately, this has impacted the 30 or so international (US and other) students at UB. One was apparently ‘attacked’ twice, once with stones while the students were crisscrossing campus and another time when he was eating in the refectory. He was one of four students from UNC Greensboro and now they have all been ordered back. I think it is quite a shame and quite a waste; all that preparation and acclimation time and such a great experience. I am sure UB must not be too happy about the situation.

News flash: they have closed the University as of 1:30 this afternoon and are bringing in the police to try to restore order. I am relieved since I was to go in to attend a seminar by the Sociology head of department, Godi, at 3 and was feeling a bit nervous; two people very kindly called to tell me! It surprises me that it has taken this long to get things under control. But the university security has no weapons – with sticks and stones the students are better armed than they are and so it is only apparently when they finally make a decision to call in the police that the situation can be brought under control. The whole thing is very surprising to me, I must say. At 7:30 this morning Leloba (southern African women writers scholar) and I went for an hourlong walk all around campus. But as Leloba would say: the ‘revolutionaries’ are not up at that early hour.

Postscript: they ended up shutting down the University until February 16 – and skipping spring break and adding a week at the end to make up for the lost time. Two student ringleaders have been expelled and others suspended. There are broken windows in buildings all over campus which is really a shame; apparently they also damaged some cars. Again, there is not a drop of sympathy anywhere for the students who led the strike (and attempted to coerce others to come along). It is just a shame that it took so long for there to be a response. It was really the Ministry of Education that should have responded sooner as they are the ones who make the policies regarding the allowances. Perhaps the administration should have acted sooner to close the University though that too may have been a Ministry decision.