“Suspending study in our university and forcing it to close is something that anybody can do,” says Ali Ghazali, an engineering junior at Omar Al-Mukhtar University’s branch in the coastal city of Derna, 300 kilometers east of Benghazi.
Taking classes in the 6,000-student university has become impossible due to the recurrent sit-ins held by students and teaching staff in addition to clashes in which Kalashnikovs and grenades have been used on some occasions, while the university’s security staff is overhwlemed.
“Suspending study in our university and forcing it to close is something that anybody can do,” says Ali Ghazali, an engineering junior at Omar Al-Mukhtar University’s branch in the coastal city of Derna, 300 kilometers east of Benghazi.
Taking classes in the 6,000-student university has become impossible due to the recurrent sit-ins held by students and teaching staff in addition to clashes in which Kalashnikovs and grenades have been used on some occasions, while the university’s security staff is overhwlemed.
“The university’s staff, students, security staff and even those coming from outside the university have the ability to obstruct the educational process for one or more days,” Ghazali explained.
The situation in the university, a branch of Omar Al-Mukhtar University in Bayda – 100 kilometers west of Derna – was far more stable during the revolution but soon deteriorated as the situation in the city worsened.
Not a single policeman has entered the city of Derna for months while the rebels withdrew after protecting it for a short period. That has been reflected on the university and students have started complaining about postponed and suspended exams and prolonged studying period due to repeated stops.
The university’s administration has announced on many occasions that it would not allow anybody to enter the university without identification but this has proven ineffective since a lot of those denied entry jump over the university’s walls or one of their acquaintances help them pass through.
Until further notice
Interim Prime Minister Ali Zeidan promised a delegation of the city’s local council and teaching staff members on April 1st that the government would soon solve the university’s problem. The next day, Undersecretary of Higher Education Dr. Basheer Shtewi visited the university in an effort to closely examine the problem but an armed clash broke out between dorm students and security staff and somebody got shot in the leg, which led to closing the university until further notice.
The university’s administration tried to overcome insecurity by resorting to hiring a brigade of rebels, called Abu Salim Martyrs, which then protected the university for a short while and restored some degree of security but it withdrew for private reasons.
Ghazali partly blamed the university’s security staff, saying, “The way they deal with the events and their exceeding of limits increase tension.”
Gender segregation
While classes were suspended in early April, members of the university’s security apparatus built a wall that divided the university’s yard into two parts and they also prepared a cafeteria in each part to stop the mixing of sexes, something the university officials consider beyond their powers.
Mabrouka Muhammad, a physics sophomore, condemned this step, saying: “The university’s small area does not afford such a move and such a decision needs careful consideration before applying it.”
The wall, says Abdulaziz Hassadi, a media freshman, “does not affect the educational process,” adding that the students and their parents “should reach a consensus on the issue.”
Procrastination
The current situation led students to hold a sit-in on the 7th of last April to express their rejection of what they deemed as a policy of procrastination and inappropriate intervention by the university’s administration, and security staff.
“We have agreed to stop attending classes until all our demands are met, on top of which is firing the university’s security staff due to intervention in the university’s policies,” said a student who preferred anonymity.
The current situation, says Ahmad Krekesh, a member of the student association, “has been the worst since founding the university and the current obstacles impede a comfortable educational atmosphere, which has led us all to seek security and nothing but security.”
Krekesh says the government is responsible for the deteriorating security situation and he blames ‘intruders’ for the mayhem. “The intruders are from outside the university. Some are drunk, while others molest female students and get involved in fights with security staff,” he explained.
Strict by-laws
Adel Anibah, a teaching staff member, says restoring security has been the most serious problem faced by the university since the liberation battle where the university often deals with trespassers. “Repeated sit-ins by students, teaching staff and employees have obstructed the educational process,” he added.
“The university’s financial and administrative autonomy would solve many problems for the central administration of Omar Al-Mukhtar University in Bayda cannot currently control all of its branches scattered over a large geographical area,” Anibah explained.
He says there is a strict by-law which deters and punishes violators but it could not be enforced due to the absence of law, proliferation of arms and a lack of trained security apparatus.
In light of the current situation, the university remains empty until security is restored and arms are removed, a demand not only by the university’s students but also by all of the city’s population.
