ASA Strike Disrupts Postgraduate Examinations at Njala University By George Philip Jambawai Bo City, Sierra Leone

 ASA Strike Disrupts Postgraduate Examinations at Njala University

By George Philip Jambawai
Bo City, Sierra Leone

Academic activities at Njala University have been disrupted after the Academic Staff Association (ASA) began industrial action on 16 September, reportedly bringing postgraduate examinations to an abrupt halt.

The strike began at midnight after the association’s 21-day strike notice expired, during which ASA had engaged university authorities and the government over demands relating to salaries, harmonisation, and staff welfare. 

At the university’s examination hall on the morning following the commencement of the strike, postgraduate students who had arrived expecting to sit their scheduled examinations were instead met with closed doors and an empty venue.

The disruption has left students, particularly those enrolled in postgraduate programmes, uncertain about when examinations will resume.

Speaking on the strike, the President of the Academic Staff Association at Njala University, Alah James Sandi, confirmed that the industrial action had taken effect following the expiration of the 21-day notice.

Sandi said the notice period was intended to give the authorities sufficient time to address the association’s concerns and avert industrial action.

According to him, ASA had engaged both university authorities and the government, but the discussions had not produced the outcome the association was seeking.

The association is demanding a 100 percent salary increase and salary harmonisation, as well as the full implementation of agreed conditions of service and improvements in staff welfare.

Sandi said the dispute was not limited to Njala University, explaining that the industrial action affects six universities and one polytechnic institution across Sierra Leone.

 

He further said that, during the strike, academic staff were not expected to perform their official academic and administrative functions.

These functions, he explained, include conducting examinations, lecturing, submitting grades and providing academic supervision.

The immediate impact, however, is being felt by students whose academic programmes have been interrupted.

For postgraduate students, many of whom combine their studies with employment and other professional responsibilities, the disruption comes at a critical point in the academic calendar. Some students have also made financial and logistical arrangements based on the published examination schedule.

With the examinations already underway when the strike commenced, students now face uncertainty over when academic activities will resume.

At the time of reporting, no definite date had been announced for the resumption of the affected examinations.

The industrial action therefore leaves two competing concerns at the centre of the dispute: the demand by academic staff for improved remuneration and implementation of their conditions of service, and the need for students to complete their academic programmes without further disruption.

For now, the examination halls at Njala University remain quiet as students await further developments from the university authorities, the government and the Academic Staff Association.