On Thursday, the Tripoli University Student Union staged a protest to condemn the continued suspension of study at the university. This comes against the background of the strike announced by faculty members for nearly two months, due to the non-payment of their salaries.
In a statement, the union called on university officials to “take responsibility and work to resume studies as soon as possible, at all faculties within Tripoli University.”
They also stressed that the university “needs a course correction,” urging for “immediate solutions to address all problems facing the students and faculty members.”
The students held the concerned authorities responsible for the suspension of their study, warning that they will “adopt escalatory steps within 48 hours if their demands went unnoticed.”
“If the university officials continue to neglect our demands and not respond to us, we will consider other ways to claim our legitimate rights, including strikes, sit-ins, and legal actions,” the statement read.
In September, university faculty members announced an open sit-in until their demands were met, including payment of their overdue salaries.
On Tuesday, they affirmed that they will “continue their sit-in until their demands are implemented.”
Last year, teaching staff and academics at Tripoli University staged protests over the government’s failure to pay them their overdue salaries.
‘‘We have the right to save the position of higher education’’ their union claimed.
The Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba set an inflationary and escalatory precedent by raising the salaries of some sectors. This is leading to a domino effect with other sectors requesting similar raises.
Equally, by offering grants for marriage and families, he signalled that the Libyan government has the necessary funds. This has raised expectations in all sectors of pay rises, especially after the devaluation of the dinar, which has raised the cost of living across the board.