UB Lecturers Go on Strike

The University of Buea may be entering another tumultuous period. Not yet completely done with the seething anger of non-academic staff over unpaid bonuses, the academic staff is once again spoiling for action.
Lecturers of the University, under the umbrella of the National Union of Teachers of Higher Education, SYNES, Buea Chapter, begin a one-week strike action as from Monday, January 18.

The President of SYNES Buea, Dr. Michael Yanou told The SUN last Friday that the strike action shall go ahead despite frantic efforts by authorities to thwart the move. Asked whether the call for the strike shall be well observed, Dr. Yanou challenged The SUN to visit the campus on Monday to assess the situation.

In a letter to the Vice Chancellor dated January 7 and signed by Dr. Akoachere Richard - Secretary, Dr. James Abangma-Vice-President, Dr. Fontem Neba-Representative of Academic Staff in Council and Dr. Yanou, SYNES Buea notified that following the General Assembly of the Union which held on January 6, 2010 it was resolved that “SYNES Buea shall be calling on a warning strike from Monday the 18th January, 2010 to Saturday the 24th January. (No lectures, No research work, No practicals, No seminars)”.

The lecturers have also warned that they shall “commence a second phase of an indefinite strike from the 1st of February, 2010 ensuring that the First Semester examinations do not commence as scheduled”.

Grouse

The lecturers have vowed that these actions shall remain in place until the rule tying promotions to the supervision of post-graduate thesis is dropped and lecturers trapped by it promoted and the fee for the supervision of long essays are revised.Asked why the strike action is limited to the University of Buea, Dr. Yanou said it is because the institution is unique and was created to pursue and promote the Anglo-Saxon tradition whereby promotion is based purely on publications and not through the compulsory supervision of post-graduate thesis.

In the letter to he V.C. the SYNES authorities indicated that they had written to the Minister of Higher Education “appealing for a review of the criteria of the supervision of post-graduate thesis as a condition for the promotion of academic staff including those in departments without functional graduate programmes which is contrary to the Anglo-Saxon tradition:.

Marginalisation

The lecturers of UB hold that the above condition is designed to marginalise them on account of their minority status. They also blame the Promotion Board in Yaounde for the adoption of double standards to their prejudice because they do not by tradition benefit from promotion through aggregation. The lecturers are also miffed by the continuing refusal to pay a modest FCFA 40,000 for the supervision per candidate of long essays at the University of Buea in spite of repeated demands.

By Norbert Wasso Binde