Fist-fight with the Director

Last Sunday I took a day off from my student-teaching supervision duties because I lost my voice and needed to rest. I ran into my students yesterday and I asked them how their classes went. 

Ahmed (three out of five group members are named Ahmed) told me that he was in the middle of giving directions to the students for an exam when men appeared at the door of his classroom. The men tried to enter the room and Ahmed told them to leave immediately. The men refused to leave and started ordering all of the students to evacuate the room. Ahmed started yelling at the men and then he looked outside and saw a huge crowd of men, all ordering the students to leave.

Then he realized that it was students from the University of Nouakchott who had entered the school compound and forced all of the high school students to go on strike with them. The students, of course, had no say in the matter. Ahmed, and the rest of the teachers, had no say in the matter, either. It was at that point that Ahmed said that he glanced to his right and saw the Director yelling at a group of students. Before the University students could start a fist-fight with the Director, a group of teachers and school staff were able to separate them. 

The University of Nouakchott is located about one kilometer from the high school. Their campus is closed until March 25th and it has been described as a "police state" by some of my students who have tried to go there this week. The University students are on strike because they want an increase in their monthly scholarships, as well as increasing the number of students who get scholarships to include all students. They have many other demands but those seem to be the primary concern. 

I do not know enough about the situation at the University to make a comment. However, I do think that it is wrong for the University students to threaten high school students and prevent them from studying. 

My student-teacher trainees are in the battle field. If they can survive teaching in Nouakchott they will excel anywhere else they go!