Ivory Coast : 5000 students still unregistered despite government decision

Some 5,000 Ivorian students from Houphouet-Boigny University in Abidjan, who regularly express their dissatisfaction, are still not registered despite a government decision concerning them, AFP sources told concordant Monday.

« At the moment, it’s blocking at the university level, but the decision I made is in line with the direction the President of the Republic wanted. It is up to the university to submit to the decisions of the ministry, « affirmed AFP the Ivorian Minister of Higher Education, Albert Toikeusse Mabri.

« Students who were not enrolled in university last year and who have taken courses and passed their exams can go on to a higher year, » he said.

Last year, almost 5,000 students were unable to enroll in the faculty because of administrative or financial problems. But some have still been able to follow the curriculum.

Since the beginning of September, they demanded the reopening of the registration to be able to pass in higher year. These 5,000 students are threatened with exclusion because they « could not enroll within the timeframes indicated by the central schooling of the university, » Martin Zéba, head of the non-registered student group, had recently explained.

On September 29, they had been received by the Minister of Higher Education, who had passed this file to the Council of Ministers.

Many strikes at this university
The « (Minister’s) decision has been given since September 29th. Students wonder if this decision will be applied. We do not know today why the administration of the university can not apply the decision. We are here and we are still waiting, « says Martin Zeba.

On the side of the university Felix Houphouet-Boigny, it says not to be aware of this decision and we refuse any other comment.

The course of studies has been seriously disrupted for years in this university because of many strikes, both teachers and students. Academic enrollments can occur long after the start of classes, or even after the exams. This explains why students in certain sectors do not enroll until 2019 for the academic year 2017-2018, told AFP students.

The administration had indicated that registrations not made on time would not be made up. « Whoever calls himself a student who is not registered, either he is a fraudster or he is the victim of his own negligence, » the university’s communication director Djofolo Doumbia told AFP recently.