africa recovery (UN ECOSOC)

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Riot police fired tear gas into Senegal's main university campus on Thursday during the latest clashes with stone-throwing students in a country often seen as a model of democracy in West Africa.

In recent years, Senegal has been one of the most stable economies in the turbulent region but unemployment is high and with half of the population aged under 18, many feel their concerns are not addressed by politicians.

"If we don't take to the streets, they don't resolve our problems," said Baba Gassama, a science faculty student who said his labs needed basic equipment like microscopes. Many complain of problems like massively overcrowded lecture halls.

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but back in 2001 ...

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In a departure from previous economic agreements that put a squeeze on higher education in Senegal, the new government of President Abdoulaye Wade is planning a dramatic expansion. Currently, there are some 23,200 students at Senegal's two public universities, in Dakar and Saint-Louis. Government officials have been discussing increasing the total student population at the two universities to around 40,000 within several years, with additional numbers at regional "university centres," such as the existing one in Bambey.

Such proposals have caused friction with World Bank officials, who had played a central role in influencing the previous government's education policies. In 1996, Senegal signed a six-year higher education project with the World Bank, in which the Bank pledged to cover 86 per cent of the total CFA 14.5 bn ($30.9 mn) cost. Within a framework strongly favouring liberalization and the promotion of private higher education institutions, the project aimed to reduce the number of public university students by limiting intake, raising enrolment fees and other student costs and constraining faculty recruitment.

In his campaign for the presidency, Mr. Wade championed many of the economic and social grievances of Senegal's poor, including students and unemployed youths. This contributed to his stunning upset victory in March 2000, and to the solid majority won by his political coalition in the April 2001 legislative election.

Some analysts see the new emphasis on expanding higher education as a concession to a vocal component of the president's political constituency.

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