Sudanese communist party supports Khartoum university strike

May 19, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) has declared support to the three-day strike of the Khartoum University’s Lecturers Union and called upon the masses, particularly the ranks of workers, educated persons and the students, to join the lecturers in their battle.

The lecturers of the University of Khartoum started Saturday a three-day strike in protest over what they deem as government interference in the university’s structure, after a government resolution to pension more than 47 lecturers off.

In a press statement, the SCP said that the resolution of pensioning the lecturers off on the plea of reaching the age of pension is entirely political and a strike targeting the principal of the independence of universities.

The statement said that this resolution would lead to more deterioration in the higher education.

The statement also said that the resolution that pensioned more than 47 lecturers off did not take into consideration the fact that there is a huge shortage of lecturers in the universities in proportion to the numbers of the students according to the international academic standards used in all the universities around the world.

The statement asserted that there are evidences and proofs supporting the claim that the resolution is political and that it is aiming to weaken the union.

(ST)