Fourah Bay College's Hostels Struggle

For years students of Fourah Bay College have been waiting for the completion of campus hostels, but that wait will continue for much longer.

Block Inscriptions (Photo Credit: Eric Kawa)

Kadiatu Mansaray is a special need student in her third year at the Mass Communication Department, she raised concern on the structure of the hostels, noting that they are not disabled friendly. Mansaray called on the university authorities to find a way to help her and many other disables to also feel part of the development. She emphasized prioritizing special needs student so as to access the hostels in gratis or at a minimal cost.

“However, we also call on the college administration to make ways for disabled students to have easy access to the buildings.” said Mansaray.

Ishmail Kargbo is a final year Accounting student at Fourah Bay College, he expressed dissatisfaction over the delay in rehabilitating the hostels.

“I feel so bad that after spending more than 3 years on campus, I couldn’t access the hostel facilities, I am most challenged to attend classes in the morning hours especially when we have some at 8:00 AM, getting on campus to catch up with my early morning classes is very difficult for me,” said Kargbo.

He further highlighted that with the hostels, there’s always cordiality among students as they find it easy to organize group studies and share ideas.

Hostel’s Garden (Photo Credit: Eric Kawa)

Dr. Michael A. Conteh, Supervisor of Estate at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, said the hostels were shut down as a result of the unruliness of students.

According to Dr. Conteh, the project should have ended in March 2019 but was further extended in order to complete the renovation.

“In terms of the renovation, it is not yet 100%, there are one or two issues that SOGEFEL has to fix, for instance, a broken faucet in a toilet, a door which they have fixed was carted away by thieves. So there were so many issues surrounding the hostels. In terms of furnishing the hostels, that has not been done yet and students can’t occupy them without furniture “

He said he could not tell as of now, the number of students who might occupy a room and the amount to be paid per student.

Around 2010, students vacated the hostels in order to give way for the rehabilitation of the buildings. This has left many students arriving on campus late, whilst those coming from the provinces find it very difficult to get settlements in order to ease their lives.
It seems as if the prayers of students at Fourah Bay College are now answered as the hostel facilities are almost at their completion stage.

Female Hostel (Phototo Credit: Eric Kawa)

The project is funded by the Arab Bank of Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and Société Général de Fella (SOGEFEL) as contractors. The hostels are comprised of different quarters and are divided into male and female quarters with well-furnished bedrooms, toilets, Kitchens, and gardens where students would interact and spend time reading and interacting with their colleagues.

With the rehabilitation of the hostels, many students who couldn’t find fixed settlements in the urban area will find it easy to make it for classes and will reduce the cost used by many students on transportation.

As we await the operation of the rehabilitated hostels, we will continue to follow up on developments as and when they unfold.