By: Ramsey N. Singbeh, Jr., Margibi county
Following intervention from the Government of Liberia through the Civil Service Agency, the Ministries of Finance and Education and the BWI Administration, protesting teachers at the Booker Washington Institute (BWI) in Kakata, Margibi County have called off their go-slow on campus.
On Monday, January 24, 2022, academic instructors of the institute, who were supposed to commence administering the mid-term exams, halted all academic activities in demand of increment of incentives.
The go-slow lasted up to Wednesday this week after the protesting instructors through their union met with representatives from the government behind closed doors.
The meeting was followed by a press release issued by the workers union, announcing a halt to the go-slow.
The release partially reads: “The Booker Washington Institute Workers Union is pleased to inform students, parents and the general public that the “Go-slow” action instituted by the academic instructors of BWI has been called off as of today, January 26, 2022.”
The union says the decision followed consultation with all stakeholders, including the BWI Administration on welfare of the staff and teaching faculty of the institution.
Meanwhile, the BWI Workers Union apologizes to students, parents and the public at large for the disruption of academic activities on campus for the entire week and promises to always use dialogue in resolving grievances, while reassuring to work hard in ensuring that BWI becomes a model center for Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) in Liberia.
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To the amazement of students of BWI, their academic instructors refused to administer exams on January 24 in demand of increment in salary and incentives.
Students were told to stay home for three days as of Monday, January 24th. But normal academic activities have been restored following intervention by the government.
Founded in 1929 and named in memory of the late renowned African-American Scholar Booker T. Washington, BWI has been one of the premier vocational and technical institutions in Liberia that has immensely contributed to the country’s human resource development. Editing by Jonathan Browne
