By Mohamed T. Massaquoi
Students of the Milton Margai College of Education and Technology (MMCET) have threatened to take to streets of Freetown and march to the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education in protest, if their college doesn’t get a university status by next week.
The students made the threat after a brief demonstration they staged at the college’s Congo Cross campus on 17th January this year.
Tens of students who turned up for protest last Friday were unified in condemning the Ministry of Higher Education for what they described as undue delay in transforming the institution into a Technical University.
During the protest, students held placards with different messages like ‘Transformation of MMCET into a Technical University is long overdue,’ ‘Professor Aiah Gbakima Must Go,’ ‘We Are Tired With the Long Wait,’ ‘The Other Colleges That Have Been Transformed to Universities Are Not Better Than Us’.
MMCET is among three colleges in the country that have been clamoring for university status. The government had said it was considering the request.
The student leader of the Congo Cross campus of the college, David Kamara, stated that the college had the manpower and facilities of a Technical University status.
He said the college had a state-of-the-art laboratory to conduct advanced tests like DNA tests, refurbished classrooms, hostels, library, and a conducive learning environment on all the three campuses.
The Principal of the college, Dr Philip John Kanu, addressed the students and called for restraint.
In his address, he said they were in talks with the Tertiary Education Commission and the ministry to get the status “they deserve”.
Students accused the college administration of doing little to pressure the government to act in their favour.
Last week a similar protest had to be quelled down in Kenema where students of the Eastern Polytechnic also threatened a massive strike if the ministry didn’t reconsider its position.
It followed the emergence of a leaked memo from the Higher Education Ministry advising against the transformation of polytechnic schools to university. It provoked outrage from the students.
The ministry had since withdrawn the memo and issued out an apology to the colleges.
The three colleges who are still fighting for a university status are, MMCET, Eastern Polytechnic and Freetown Teachers College.
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