While many students would quickly liken exam time to human excrement, it's rare that anyone takes the comparison any further. But, hundreds of University of Ghana, Legon students faced exactly such a visceral metaphor as they prepared to kick off "quiz" season on Saturday morning.
Overnight, the new N block had been covered with human fecal matter. Tables and chairs smeared with the substance were thrown in the grass alongside the back of the building, while others had been left to imbue the hall with the smell of waste. And, in a particularly grizzly bit of engineering, one teacher"s desk was so filled with human waste the poor souls charged with cleaning the hall could only flip it upside down to allow it to drain. Even after a thorough cleaning the exam hall carried a distinctly unpleasant odour, and there were still traces of excrement on the walls and floor.
According to security officials, late on Friday a group of unknown assailants chased off the night guard and then proceeded to break into the new N block. A day guard posted to keep an eye on the hall as it was "rehabilitated" pointed out a broken window as the likely method of entry.
Amongst the ruined furniture security found several large black plastic bags still filled with remnants of the fecal matter used to mark the hall. The guards also found plastic surgical gloves they believe the attackers wore when spreading the feces.
While the university’s public affairs department was not available for comment on the scope of the damages, one of the men in charge of the clean-up effort said he had spent "over ¢200,000 on soap alone." He also said he had contracted 30 cleaners and "more would be needed on Monday". With several chairs looking beyond repair the maintenance man said he would be "happy" if the total repair bill ended up as "only ¢1 million," although he admitted he expected it to be higher.
Between the smell, and the use of motorised equipment to clean some of the despoiled furniture, one had to wonder how the students writing next door were managing to concentrate on their exams.
The assault on the hall comes amid increasing tensions between University students and school officials over the controversial "In-out-out-out" housing programme. The proposed programme would bar Level 400 students from campus residences, providing space only for first year students. Critics of the plan say it could cause some students to drop out due to the far higher costs of living in hostels either on or off campus.
On Friday, several students verbally clashed with officers after Police stormed into Commonwealth Hall in search of evidence of a plot to kidnap or physically harm the University’s Vice-Chancellor.
While nobody has claimed responsibility for the latest incident, and University officials say they are unsure of who committed the act, many Legon students believe the attack had something to do with the controversial policy. "Of course, definitely" said Shotto a Level 400 Bachelor of Arts student, although he wondered if the attack was carried out by "real students". Martin, taking Level 400 Statistics, speculated the incident "was action by a group [of students] dissatisfied with the policy".
But, not everyone was convinced. Prince, a Level 300 student who was on his way to find out if his exam was postponed claims he, "was not convinced" students were behind the act. While other, like Dede, a Level 200 student, only allowed the unpleasant act of vandalism "could be" the work of disgruntled students. Although she said that regardless of who was responsible, "It’s bad; it doesn’t speak well of the school". Prince agreed: "it’s bad, it doesn’t favour the students".
Level 400 student Narley said some final year students have approached their classmates and asked to be "allowed to finish in peace". "I can’t afford to stay for another year" he said about the possibility students could enact a boycott, or take other actions that would disrupt exams.
Even though the new policy wouldn’t be his problem the Accounting student had some sympathy for his fellow scholars. While he thought it was "sad" the assailants had used such means to "address their grievances," he did allow opponents of the policy have "been pushed to the wall".
Shotto echoed that sentiment: "To some extent I thought it was quite wrong," he said of the fecal assault, "but the university doesn’t listen to us, when we demonstrate they beat us up, so maybe these guys thought this was the only way?"
Still, despite the fact they didn’t know if their 11:30 am exams had been postponed (or perhaps because of that) a pair of Level 200 students were able to see the lighter side of the odd attack.
"It’s funny," Political Science major Samuel said with a laugh, clearly glad to see a break in the usual exam monotony. Beside her giggling companion Social Work major Sadatu gave a lop-sided grin and added with bemusement. "I was surprised, I didn’t think they would go that far."
