CPCE students protest poor food, deplorable sanitation

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 21:00 by GxMedia

Resident students of the Cyril Potter College of Education on Friday protested the poor food being provided to them.

The students refused to eat breakfast consisting of hard channa and one cup of tea and instead vented their concerns on a chalkboard. They complained about the small amounts of food that are expected to last them for several hours.

Members of the media were prevented from seeing the students sitting in the dining area and refusing their breakfast. “They just sat in the dining hall and wrote on the board and refused to collect their breakfast until they received a proper meal,” a student reported.
Chief Education Officer Olato Sam disagreed that protest was the best available recourse. He assured that steps were being taken to alleviate the concerns of the more than 200 live-in students. “They had some issues regarding their meals and others, but the issues are currently being addressed,” he said.

The protest was timed to coincide with the holding of a seminar at the CPCE on “The Role of Professional Standards in the Education System.” Another student reported that “The problem is that they gave students to eat some broken up biscuits and some channa that was not even pressured properly. Students also complained that the chicken is not prepared properly and is rank.

The students also expressed concern about the stagnant and smelly water, including sewage, since incessant heavy rainfall earlier this week that flooded the coastland.

An overflowing defective sewage mechanism was also seen in the compound. Students said the sewage system is also malfunctioning under the dormitory. “I know that since the rain was falling it flooded out the entire school compound and the septic tanks at the dorms are overflowing due to the situation with the flooding,” a student said.

The students were forced to walk on a makeshift bridge made of benches and chairs to enter and leave the dormitory.