CBE students on strike over loans

College of Business Education students in Dar es Salaam yesterday boycotted classes, saying the move was meant to pressure the administration and the Government to respond to their grievances soon enough.

Paul Seleli, President of the students organisation at the college, said in an interview with The Guardian that they wanted to know where the money due to them from the Higher Education Students Loans Board was and how it was being spent.

"We want to have that crucial information because, at the end of the day, we are the ones to bear the burden of repaying the loans," he said.

He added: We have decided to strike because we see it as the only way we can push the Government and the college administration into responding to our grievances.

But, of course, we know that this will adversely impact on our studies.""

Seleli said they had written a letter to the Higher Education, Science and Technology ministry asking for assistance but there was no response yet.

He explained that there were also reservations over the possibility of some 80 students of the second and third year Advanced Diploma students for 2006/07 and 2007/08, respectively, having received double payments in respect of tuition fee and stationery allowance.

Several other students interviewed expressed the same sentiments, saying the Government has been paying Government-sponsored students` tuition fees through the Trade, Industry and Marketing ministry while the loans board has been doing so directly to the college.

"What this means is that the students concerned will ultimately be required to repay a lot of money.

We would like the loans board to pay the money straight to the respective students if they are really serious about continuing to sponsor them," noted one student.

"If they are not prepared to do that it would be much better that they stop paying us because we are not really sure of how the money is actually spent on us," he added.

In further remarks, Seleli recommended that the college return the money to the loans board �because we don`t want anyone to demand it from us in the future when actually it may not have benefited us�.

According to students, the money paid straight to the college by both the Government and the loans board in 2006/07 and 2007/08 includes 747,000/- tuition fee and 120,000/- stationery allowance per student.

They said if the board decided to pay the money straight to them, they would have the option of spending part of it on other necessities like food and accommodation where they are normally short of cash.

The students also blamed the administration for shelving the one-year diploma course in Marketing and Business Administration while students had already paid the fees required and signed contracts with the Government-run college.

The college's decision followed the National Council for Technical Education`s (NACTE) disqualification of the respective syllabus and subsequent instructions to the college to stop registering students for the course. The order was made through a February 23, 2007 letter to the CBE principal.

"The purpose of this letter is to inform you that you are not allowed to start admitting students for the one-year Diploma course because competences of learners have to grow gradually from the lower level to the higher one," read part of the NACTE letter.

The students claim that the college announced the course while knowing that doing so was contrary to NACTE�s instructions, adding that students were registered for the 2007/08 intake and paid the requisite fees but have attended classes for only three weeks.

"This is a big loss. Most of the students had lined themselves up for a one-year course in terms of fees and permission from employers. Where will they get the fees and permission money for a second year?

The Government should intervene to enable the students to have a clearer picture of their fate," observed Seleli.

In another development, the student leader said the three top management positions at the college have remained vacant for long periods �just because those standing in know they could be sidelined any fine morning and therefore feel they have no mandate to take definitive measures even on some very pressing issues�.

The positions understood to be vacant are those of the Principal, Registrar and Deputy Principal, with the acting principal said to have failed to make final decisions on certain issues for more than six months now.

The strike involves all students and covers the Basic Certificate, Diploma and Advanced Diploma courses.

It was earlier reported that the Trade, Industry and Marketing ministry permanent secretary would visit the college and possibly address the striking students sometime later yesterday.

However, there was no such development by the time The Guardian left the CBE premises.