Africa-Press – Gambia. Journalism students at the University of The Gambia are calling for immediate and decisive action to address “cash power” shortages that have left classrooms in darkness and severely disrupted learning.
In a strongly worded statement released yesterday, the students criticised “years of systemic neglect” by the university’s facilities and finance departments, pointing to repeated electricity outages that at times lasted more than 24 hours.
According to student testimonies, these outages have become alarmingly frequent, forcing them to attend lectures in near-total darkness, with many relying on their mobile phone flashlights to take notes and follow lessons.
“This intolerable situation has become an unfortunate norm,” the students lamented. “Despite countless follow-ups and reminders to the relevant authorities, the problem persists.”
The most recent blackout began Wednesday morning and continued through to Thursday. During the outage, a student had to purchase electricity credit while the university’s facilities department delayed action, even after being promptly notified by the school’s logistics minister.
The implications of these power failures go beyond discomfort. The students argue that the outages have a direct and detrimental effect on the quality of education, particularly in a professional setting like the School of Journalism, where functioning electronic equipment, access to the Internet, and audiovisual presentations are essential components of daily instruction.
“It is the clear responsibility of the facilities and finance departments to ensure that the learning environment is adequately powered,” the students asserted. “Yet, those responsible appear far too comfortable in their air-conditioned offices while students suffer needlessly.”
The students expressed frustration that similar concerns were raised repeatedly in the past. Previous peaceful protests and petitions were met with promises of reform, but little appeared to have changed. This prolonged inaction, they said, signals a worrying disregard for student welfare and educational standards.
As such, the students are now warning that unless swift and permanent solutions are implemented, they will be left with no alternative but to resume peaceful demonstrations to draw attention to their plight. They stress that this is not merely about electricity, but about the dignity and basic conditions necessary for quality education.
This paper tried to contact the UTG management through their vice chancellor but to no avail.
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