Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Bella Diallo
Published on 2024-03-07 19:03:38
Despite the warning from the Council of Rectors of Guinea, the National Collective of Students from Public Universities and Institutes of Guinea (CEUPU-G) demonstrated on Thursday, March 7, 2024, in front of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Innovation. These students demand the fulfillment of promises made during the Guinea Student Forum last December and denounce the lack of consideration for their demands expressed on February 27.
The President of the Collective asserts that their rights are being violated. “We truly believe that stifling a problem will not solve it, we must confront the problem. The post-university careers of thousands of students are in danger and we are truly sorry. Our authorities must take responsibility and address our heartfelt crisis. This time, we tried to ensure that there would not be a large number of students, only university officials are invited to participate in this sit-in in the best way possible. We hope that the message we are trying to convey will be understood by the authorities so that we do not have to organize a second sit-in with all students,” said Saidou Mariko Sidibé.
Continuing, Saidou Mariko Sidibé discusses the demands of Guinean public university students.
“Our demands since February 27 have been reformulated: the first point is the implementation of the regulations of the 2007 decrees. We were evaluated based on the requirements of these regulations. Just a few weeks before receiving our diplomas, we were informed of a new regulation in 2019. We are not protesting against mediocrity, if a student deserves to have a passing grade, that is not an issue. But students cannot strive for 3 years hoping to at least have ‘good’ or ‘fair’ grades and end up with ‘passable’ grades. The second point is the installation of WiFi networks in all our universities to facilitate research. The third point is granting masters to the top students of each promotion, which will help prepare future leaders,” he stated.
After this short-lived but police-controlled demonstration, some students were targeted and arrested upon their return, including the student president. They were taken to the central police station in Kaloum.
In a statement released in the evening, the National Collective of Students from Public Universities and Institutes of Guinea (CEUPU-G) condemned these arrests and demanded the immediate release of their friends.
As of the latest news, the students are still being held at the central police station in Kaloum.
Read the original article(French) on Actu Guinea
