By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
Since the Hostels at Fourah Bay College have been made available to students, not many students have been able to occupy them. This according to some students that politico spoke to has to do with the conditions attached to applying for the hostels, the ‘high rates of hostels fee’, and the shortage of water.
The General Manager of Sierra Estate, Yusuf R. Forewa, a company that is charged with the responsibility of overseeing the Fourah Bay College hostels noted that the hostel is managed independently from the College administration, but that there are laid down criteria to be fulfilled from the University, notably first-year students have to be a fully paid and registered before you can have access to the hostels. He added that continuing students would have to pay 50 percent of the tuition fees before they can be admitted into the hostels.
He maintained that they are yet to admit Certificate and Diploma Students into the hostels, but stated that they have engaged the college administration for Certificate and Diploma students to be admitted into the hostels. He said there are certain Certificate and Diploma Students that are living far off the college, but they want to see how far they would incorporate them into the system.
In response to the number of students already residing in the hostels, Forewa noted that, since they have just started admitting students into the hostels, he cannot give an exact number of students staying in the hostels. However, he admitted that since they started operations last year, they are yet to have a large number of students in the hostels.
‘’The reason for the low turnout last year was because the majority of the students were new students admitted into the first year and they have to pay their 100 percent fees before they can be allowed to stay in the hostels,’’ he said.
On the water challenges in the hostels, he said last year was worse considering the fact that not many students opted for the hostels and they also have to make arrangements for water bowsers to help them with water in the hostels. He pointed to water as their major challenge in the hostels compared to electricity for which they already have pre-paid meters. He said the water supply is only available in the hostels twice per week, Wednesdays and Saturdays. He maintained that ‘’plans are underway to engage the DVC to find an amicable solution to solve the water issue in the hostels and on campus.’’
Adama Deen Sesay, a final year student from the Peace and Conflict Studies Department, said there is little information she has regarding the hostels' intake. She noted that the hostels' rate is very high considering the fact that one has to pay his/her fees, fully and register before being admitted into the hostels.
“The primary objective of being in the University is to acquire knowledge and that has to come with paying your fees. Had the hostel intake been on a first come first take basis, as long as you have been admitted into the University, the majority of the students who can barely afford their fees would have been occupying the hostels.’’ She added.
Adama maintained that even for some of them to pay their fees it has to come under hard struggle, so inflating the hostels' rate to One Million Five hundred thousand Leones for the two semesters makes it impossible for the poor students to have access to the hostels. She appealed to the hostels' management to look at the poor majority of students on campus to revisit the hostels' prices and fees criteria.
Abdul Kandeh Koroma is a law student at FBC, who is on the verge of occupying a room at the hostels. He said that according to his view, the hostels are very conducive for now, but maintained that the rate is not possible for some students whose parents cannot earn that much to ensure that their children enjoy the same facility as others do. He reiterated that it is a very good thing for a student to stay in the hostels looking at the distances they are coming from and that there are classes that starts at 8:30 a.m., “so if a student is staying in the hostels, he would not find it difficult to go into the lecture room,’’ he noted. He added that staying in the hostels is an advantage to students because it helps students do more research around their course area in a very conducive atmosphere, but said “owing to the fact that the hostels fees are so exorbitant, it discourages many students to go for them.’’ He admonished the hostels' management to reconsider the hostels' rate as many students cannot afford that much, considering the standard of living in the country.
Another student living in the hostels who could not disclose his identity said that he regretted paying that huge amount for the hostels considering the fact that the facilities they were promised prior to their coming to the hostels were not forthcoming. He said that they are undergoing serious water constraints in the hostels, noting that ‘’water facility is very poor in the hostels and it is something they are using on a daily basis, so if the management cannot supply enough water in the hostels, what is the essence of paying that heavy amount to management. He said “this is something management should provide for students living in the hostels with ease,” adding that if the water issue is not addressed, he would consider renting a place nearby instead of staying in the hostels and cannot enjoy the basic things in the hostels. He ended by asking management to do the needful.
The Warden of students at FBC, Reverend Canon George Balogu Buck said that for someone to be admitted into the hostels, that individual should be a registered student of the college and should have paid his/her fees. He added that Diploma students are not allowed into the hostels because their course is a terminal course. He said a student should pay one million five hundred thousand Leones for the two semesters before admission into the hostels but that they also accept partial payments. He reiterated that there are enough rooms, for now, to accommodate students into the hostels.
Reverend Buck admitted that they still have challenges of water supply in the hostels. But that they have some water tanks to serve the hostels, adding that “though it is not adequate for the time being, they are managing.’’ He noted that they are planning to have water bowsers to supply the hostels and the campus, noting that the government is also planning to aid them with those bowsers to solve the water shortage on campus.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (19/01/22)
