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Zimbabwe

The students of the University of Banghazy for civil engineering start to fight and to get organized

June 12th
For three weeks the classes of the engineering faculty, specifically the department of civil engineering, were suspended. The students, with no previous organizations, took over the buildings, shutting them down, staying day and night inside, and watching for the classes not to start as a sign of protest. They demand the expulsion of four teachers, which are not qualified for it but they were placed by Qadafy because a political arrangement. The dictator placed them as another way of control he had on the university, to watch over the movements inside, since they were like snitches working for him. It is also known that these teachers are currently teaching just as they did before: with no academic qualifications, using their classes and titles to defend the dictator, failing the students with no reason, insulting the ones that criticize them, abusing of students, etc.
The board (which is a dean, a director of the department and some teachers as councilors) tried to solve this question by the institution channels. So they made an investigation and reached the conclusion that there was not enough evidence to dismiss the teachers because the word of the students means nothing to them. Therefore the students held protest, and the board proposed another solution: to open another group in the subjects they are teaching, so the students are not forced to attend their classes and can go to the other group. But today those parallel groups do not exist. They say they couldn't find qualified people that fulfill the requirements to be teachers, because "it is not easy". This is usually what happens with the institutional solution: it is ineffective and most of the times it never comes.
So this question is still not solved and still there are no classes, because the students still expect for the courses to be opened. If this situation persists, it is likely that the students will divide into 2 groups: the ones that finish their studies this semester, who would want to start classes anyway, and the other ones that won't start classes and continue protests.
So, in order to get organized, yesterday the students had their elections to build a student's body. This comes from the experience of studying in Europe, which some of them have and get to know the existence of the students organizations. They had 6 candidates from which they would elect 3 representatives who will be the leadership of the new student body of civil engineering and will represent the students before the board. But from time to time there will be assemblies to decide the way forward.
The authorities of the university allowed these elections, with the condition that two teachers should take part in the election committee (which was formed by 8 students, none of the candidates and, of course, the two teachers).
For the moment, the students of civil engineering of the University of Banghazy are awaiting a solution to their claims, while they get organized to carry on with their struggle. And they want everyone to know that they are not just complaining because they want to get good results in their studies to get a good job. They are trying to build a better university for a better formation for all the people, in every way.

Under the heat of the heroic fight of the Libya exploited, the songs and poems of the youth flourished and express the deep feeling of the masses

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