North Darfur university suspends students’ subscription

The administration of the University of El Fasher in North Darfur has decided to indefinitely suspend the subscription of a number of students of the Faculty of Medicine.

In a statement on Sunday, the University’s Council of Deans said that they decided on the suspension “after the failure of all attempts to dissuade the students from continuing their protests against the increased registration fees”.

In early October, students of the Faculty of Medicine organised a sit-in at the campus in protest against the rise of the registration and tuition fees from SDG350 ($57) to SDG750 ($122). They threatened to continue their protest until the university administration would respond to their demands.

The students stated that they cannot afford to pay the fees because of difficult living conditions. Many of them are displaced.

The University’s management has attempted more than once to convince the students to pay the fees and return to their studies, saying that “political elements” were stirring up the protesting students.

On 20 October, the new rector, Osman Abdeljabbar, met with the students and their parents, to explain the reason for the increased registration fees. He said that while it costs SDG5 million ($785,000) a year to run the faculty, the contributions received from students are less than SDG4 million ($630,000). According to the rector, the

The striking students will soon be evicted from the University’s boarding houses as well.