Polytechnic college students protest ‘unsuitable’ facilities

AMMAN — Students at Balqa Applied University’s (BAU) Polytechnic Engineering College, protesting against what they describe as an inadequate learning environment on campus, staged a sit-in on Sunday that continued overnight. 

Hundreds of students representing the science association, the Islamic Party, the Arab renewal bloc and several tribes are participating in the protest.

Mohammad Qasrawi, one of the organisers, told The Jordan Times that students at the Amman-based college are demanding their “basic rights” for a productive learning environment, since the current situation is “unsuitable”.

“We are only asking for our rights: to have working sewerage networks on campus, a parking lot for students, to pay tuition fees online, and to pay reduced prices at the university’s cafeteria,” he said.

According to Qasrawi, MP Ahmad Jaloudi and Minister of Higher Education Labib Khadra spoke to the protesters and promised to address their concerns. 

He added that the demonstration is an “open-ended protest”, which started at noon on Sunday and will continue if the students’ demands are not met. 

 “Activists were threatened that if they didn’t end the protest, campus security would use force to disperse it,” he claimed.

The National Campaign for Students’ Rights, Thabahtoona, also reported on Monday that anonymous individuals attempted to end the protest by “throwing stones” and “turning the lights off” on Sunday night. 

Qasrawi complained about the “inadequate facilities” at the college relative to the number of students, noting that “out-of-date services” impede learning.

“Every time we pay our tuition fees, we have to wait in line for two to three hours. We waste our time instead of attending lectures. We want a good electronic banking system instead,” the fourth-year engineering student said. 

“The lecture halls are not equipped to accommodate 120 to 130 students… [There are] no speakers, no smart boards,” he added. “We are all engineering students and the subjects we take are required for our majors, so we cannot skip them.” 

Fakher Daas, Thabahtoona coordinator, said the students are merely asking for their “basic rights”. 

“The whole problem started when universities started accepting students based on who can pay more and not who deserves to study the field they want,” Daas told The Jordan Times.

“The polytechnic college used to consist of around 2,000 to 3,000 students, but in a short period of time, the number increased to 12,000. The weak infrastructure cannot support that number,” he said.

Zaid Anbar, dean of the engineering faculty, said the BAU administration prepared a plan to meet all of the students’ demands, which are “also demands of faculty members”.

Anbar told The Jordan Times that every year, a schedule is set to repair the halls, infrastructure and sewerage networks.

“As for the prices at the cafeteria, we have a committee including students that agrees on the prices, so that students understand the costs of the products,” he said.

The faculty dean said the administration is currently working on renovating halls, but it will take time to repair everything.

“It is not a matter of one or two days to complete the process, but it is on our schedule — it also concerns us as staff,” he noted. 

Anbar said an unidentified person was tampering with the college’s lighting system during the demonstrators’ overnight stay on campus on Sunday, adding that those who “threw stones” at protesters were not from the student body, staff or security.