The University As A Tripod And Student Radicalism In Ghana

Many Casfordians will recall that it is ten years since we were rendered internal refugees on the campus of the University of Cape Coast (UCC). On April 2, 2008, Casfordians were unjustly evicted from their hall of residence and made homeless on campus. It was as if nature had conspired with some of the leadership of the university against serious fellows (Casfordians). It rained and many first year students of the hall had simply nowhere to go when the hall was closed down. The hall was closed down because one particular professor, Haruna Yakubu, then the pro-vice chancellor, wanted to flex his masculine muscles. All attempts at seeking to touch the rational part of this professor failed. Not only that, all attempts at beseeching the intervention of the political elite also failed. Eventually, Casfordians had to cow to the threat of military brutality.

What most people don't know is that the university runs on a tripod: school administrators, government and students/parents. The tripod on which the university is built is stretched to encapsulate the function of decision-making. Students, as well administrators and government representative, are to be consulted when the university is to take any decision that affects them. This is precisely because at the university level, students transition from the level of pupilage to that of studentship. They are considered mature enough to participate in the decision making process. It is based on this logic that we have what is referred to as Students' Representative Council (SRC). The primary duty of the SRC is to front for students in the crosswinds of university administration.

Unfortunately, in most of our public universities, students are treated like kids, who must be made to follow the beck and calls of school authorities. The notion of gerontocracy, which shapes power relations and dynamics in many pre-industrialized societies, continues to pervade university administration and reign heavily on students. The opinion of students is hardly solicited. Any student who appears to oppose university's 'status quo' is considered a deviant. In some cases, such a student is threatened with victimization, rustication and failure. The pedagogical approach to teaching, which operates on 'sage on stage' entrenches the overarching and overreaching control school authorities have on students. Indeed, this professor-centric approach undermines the ability of students to critique and contest ideas they are taught by lecturers. Sadly, a student is said to be 'too knowing' if he challenges what is considered conventional knowledge. While this is against the spirit and philosophical foundation of the modern university as a research institute, many students find themselves parodying what their professor dolls out to them.

In the whirlwind of all this, students have little say in the administration of our universities. There are times some students, rightly or wrongly, tend to see their representatives as stooges and sellouts. The channels for students to address their grievances are either difficult to access or ineffective. There have been a few instances where students have resorted to the law court to have their grievances resolved: sometimes they have been vindicated/victorious and at other times they have lost their cases. The high cost of legal service and the slow grinding of the wheel of justice could be overly frustrating. In effect, students easily get bogged down when the law appears to reflect the general views of the established order (university).

In the end, many students tend to take the laws into their own hands. They speak the Fanonian language of violence begetting violence. The violence school authorities vent on students is hardly noticed. It is the violence of students (the oppressed) that is heard. As some Marxist legal scholars have pointed out, the law was constituted to protect the interest of the elite (bourgeois class). It is, therefore, difficult to find the law bending in favor of students. In view of this scenario, while I don't support violence and wanton destruction of property as a way of venting anger, I also think that we must all work against the conditions that breed violence. I do not think that these students will just get up unprovoked to 'destroy' school property. Even if their demands are unattainable and supposedly unreasonable, at least from the perspective of school authorities, I believe that if the school authorities had resorted to dialogue, tact and wisdom, possibly the issue would not have escalated to the point of chaos and destruction.

I conclude by suggesting to student leadership that they should engage themselves in productive ventures such as using the resources that come into their account to purchase books for students, organize leadership seminars, and contribute to connecting students to the web of national and global job opportunities. This is because I hold the presumption that the basic goal of most students in the university is to achieve academic excellence. It is also a truism that the gap between students in the ivory tower and the world of work is just a step. If students are empowered intellectually, they will be able to dialogue well with school authorities. This means that the useless 'socialization' that student leaders organize should be discontinued with immediate effect. It is a betrayer of farsightedness to dissipate the resources of students on frivolous events like 'socialization'.

We are watching closely to see the outcome of the interim committee that has been set up to restore order to the Kwame University of Science and Technology, Ghana. Until then, I urge my fellow students to remain calm and allow the interim committee to contribute to restoring order to the university.

Long live Ghanaian universities, long live students.

Satyagraha
Charles Prempeh ([email protected]), African University College of Communications, Accra