SOME OF the tertiary students who staged a peace march against violence in Spanish Town last Sunday wore different caps on the Mona campus this week.
These were members of the Guild of Students who had spearheaded the march for peace, having invited students from four other tertiary institutions.
This time, however, the Guild students had their own grievance to pursue about payment of tuition fees. Thus peaceful protest was left adrift in the Old Capital. Confrontation with the police, throwing tear gas, and general disorder crippled normal activity on the campus for the better part of Wednesday.
Shouting and shoving is perhaps one way to attract public attention. And having done so, seek to win public sympathy by declaring that many of them should not be barred from tertiary education because they cannot afford to pay the tuition fees. That kind of skewed message could have been inferred from the stridency of the protest.
The University of the West Indies (UWI) management at a press briefing Wednesday apologised for the late notice they had given for payment of registration fees. Professor Kenneth Hall, the UWI principal, stated that there was no intention to expel students and, while sticking to the October 15 deadline by which students should pay outstanding tuition fees, the university has agreed to reinstate those who owe less than $1000.
There is obviously much room for talking about whatever form of assistance can be offered to students who have problems in paying whether from difficulties arising from the impact of Hurricane Ivan, or the management problems facing the university management because of the reduction of financial support from the Government.
What we find most reprehensible about the situation was the manner in which persons who may be Jamaica's future leaders chose to handle their conflict. In adopting the roadblock tactic of street protests, the students invite comparison with the mob strategy of the unthinking and untutored, a crude foray into rabble-rousing. This is an alarming omen.
There are many Jamaicans who have experienced American practice in universities deferring full payment of tuition each semester. Surely, such arrangements can be adapted for implementation at our local universities
where necessary. Barricading a campus is no substitute for the sensible application of rational thinking. It should not be difficult to establish in the academic ambience of a university, procedures for resolving such conflict.
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