Republic of Congo students of the Institut privé de gestion-Institut supérieur de technologie industrielle (IPG-ISTI) Monday converged in front of their country’s embassy in Dakar, Senegal to demand their scholarships.
According to them, their government has guaranteed the IPG-ISITI to cover the payment of their scholarships, at the rate of CFA240,000 per term for every student.
“We had forgotten about the scholarships and it was the embassy that called us back three weeks ago to tell us that the state would pay for the scholarships. But since then, we have seen nothing and we have no-one to talk to who can explain what is going wrong,” said Juver, one of the students who came to protest in front of the Congolese chancellery in Dakar.
A little further on, a group of students discuss the strategy to be adopted while others try to explain to the gendarmes in charge of the embassy’s security the validity of their protest.
On condition of anonymity, one of the students revealed that “since 2016, the state no longer pays students’ scholarships.” He added: “More seriously the Congolese state also owes money to the IPG-ISTI”.
This is why two generations of students have not received their diplomas and are forced by this situation to work in call centres or elsewhere to provide for themselves while staying in Dakar, he noted.
Except for the janitor, no official of the embassy agents was within sight.
“The ambassador gave the order not to work until the state pays the scholarships,” the head of the gendarmes deployed on the scene, told APA.
In 2014, the Congolese government signed a contract with the IPG-ISTI in Dakar under which some 50 students were to be trained in industrial trades.
ARD/cat/lb/as/APA