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‘Survival of the fittest’: The struggle to get to university in The Gambia

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Hundreds of students mobilized to demand the resignations of Vice Chancellor Herbert Robinson and the director of student affairs over persistent welfare and campus service shortfalls. Higher Education Minister Pierre Gomez subsequently visited the Faraba Banta campus, prompting authorities to roll out twenty transport buses, meal services, and internet expansion plans. However, serious infrastructure challenges persist, including overcrowded classrooms and a lack of practical training resources at the medical school in Banjul.

Key points

  • Student leaders are linking widespread academic disruptions directly to administrative fa…: Student leaders are linking widespread academic disruptions directly to administrative failures and inadequate campus welfare management.
  • Government transit interventions and cafeteria arrangements have provided only temporary…: Government transit interventions and cafeteria arrangements have provided only temporary relief for the university's large student population.
  • Severe equipment shortages and overcrowded classrooms continue to impair practical instru…: Severe equipment shortages and overcrowded classrooms continue to impair practical instruction at the School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Students at a top university protest transport shortages, poor facilities and safety concerns, demanding better services and leadership accountability.

Faraba Banta, The Gambia – For Muhammed Lamin Jallow, a student at the University of The Gambia’s School of Arts and Sciences, getting to class has become a daily struggle.

He travels about 40 km (25 miles) from home to the Faraba Banta campus, depending on university buses, to attend lectures.

But securing a seat on the bus can be challenging.

“Sometimes, it feels like survival of the fittest,” he told Al Jazeera. “We compete as to who gets in first, who gets to sit, who gets to stand and who goes to school and who does not.”

Jallow was among hundreds of students who protested at the University of The Gambia (UTG) on Monday, taking their grievances over transportation, campus facilities and student welfare to the vice chancellor’s office.

Lectures have since resumed after the government promised improvements to campus services.

But the students have more demands. They want Vice Chancellor Herbert Robinson and the director of student affairs to…

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