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Something wrong at Dar university
2008-04-24 10:14:37
By Editor
On Tuesday, there was student unrest at the University of Dar es Salaam during which students clashed with riot police. It was reported that four students and two policemen were seriously injured.
Not so long ago, a student died during a similar commotion. Reports on the latest incident indicate that some of the demonstrators had gone as far as manhandling and locking up those students who had opted not to join the protest march.
To say the truth, such a situation in one of our higher learning institutions-in fact the oldest in Tanzania and the most respected in the region-implies that something must be terribly wrong either with the administration of the institution or the level of understanding of the student community on why they are there.
We advisably state so not as a way of putting down the students but to reflect on the broader objective of the institution and the avenues available for sorting out any problems.
We are asking ourselves: Is there a proper flow of information at the Hill? Do the students know what is taking place and how the administration is handling whatever problems they are handling?
We believe there is a proper structure to facilitate a smooth flow of information at The Hill.
Students have their representatives who meet regularly with administration officials for feedback on whatever issue the students feel they need information on.
If these structures are working, that there is a flow of information at Dar es Salaam University, then something else is the matter and there is possibly a careless move to distract the student community from their prime goal of working for academic excellence.
The recent saddening events during which a student lost his life signal a lack of direction and the discarding the culture of respecting human life, for which Tanzanians are famous for.
The destruction of university infrastructure and the beating up of those who have opted not to join the protest -all these are incidents which are not acceptable by the wider Tanzanian community, given the efforts that are being made to enable the students to study, and taking into account the level of the country`s poverty.
Whichever way one might look at the issue, we need not to forget that the attainment of higher education is still a privilege for the few in our country, so whoever gets a chance should see himself as being heavily depended upon by the whole Tanzanian society as he is expected to make them cross over from the abyss of underdevelopment to the promised land.
We have said it earlier, and we repeat it once again, that we expect our student community to be think tanks and to act as such.
It would be quite understandable if they were peacefully protesting as a way to highlight their most profound grievances, which are in tune with our national interests.
We therefore don`t expect them to engage in actions that are in stark contrast to the intellectual calibre of those people at The Hill.
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