FBC Students Struggle To Access Examination Halls

 STUDENTS SPEND OVER 50,000 LEONES A DAY ON TRANSPORT FARE.

By: Musa Kamara 

The rapid increment of fuel prices in Sierra Leone has been spiraling out of control in the last few years, fuelling rising poverty and leaving students of Fourah Bay College wondering how much more they can spend in order to access their daily lecture rooms.  

On Thursday 17th March, 2022, the people of Sierra Leone abruptly woke up to a huge increase in fuel prices from le, 12,000 to le, 15,000 per liter sparking massive increase in transportation fare around the country.

Fourah Bay College, a green scenery campus with historical buildings housing thousands of students from all over the country and the sub region of West Africa, situated at the top of Mountain Aureol, laced with scores of departments in various fields of work of life and manned by top notch qualified lecturers is miles away from its students coming from the East and West part of the city, Freetown. It is even farther for students residing at the outskirts of Freetown. In terms of distance, it is only suitable for students residing at the Hostels in the campus and those living in the central part of the city.    

Before the increase in fuel prices and transport fares, students coming from long distances to FBC, have been grappling with access to buses and other means of transportation that will take them to campus. The two old white buses that have been plying from Model junction to FBC, due to their perennial problems, both have been sent to the garage since the start of the year 2022, and are yet to surface on the highway of FBC. There was so much hue and cry from the students of FBC on the unavailability of buses for a whole college. This led to the Student Union Government of President Adama Sillah reaching out to the management of Sierra Star Transportation Services. Her government was able to strike a deal, and two mini vans (poda poda) were made available to the students of FBC at a cost higher than the previous bus service.

Fast forward to the increment of fuel prices, students have been more disillusioned than they were before. The increment in fuel prices has led to students increasing their budget on transportation fares, students of FBC, especially those coming from the far east and west of the city, spend over fifty thousand leones (le, 50,000) a day on transportation fare. Besides the huge cost in transportation fare, students struggle on a daily basis to access buses and other transportation means to attend lectures, leading to massive late for lectures, and absent from lectures.

The increase in fuel prices has led to 100% increment in transportation fares for students of FBC and has badly affect their lectures schedules as they sometimes late for lectures or even missed their lectures due to the unavailability of transportation means. 

In order to address these challenges faced by students, the government should provide buses that will ply routes along the Far East and West of Freetown to FBC and ensure they subsidize the fares for students in order to surmount the current challenges faced by students of FBC.