Man on hunger strike after failing exam

Written by By Benedict J. Ndinwa (Standard Tribune Reporter)

Tuesday, 01 December 2009 11:45

YAOUNDE – A man has gone hungry for 14 days to protest his failure to be admitted into a school of journalism here.

Joseph Thierry Minlend, a first year Philosophy major at the University of Yaounde I has claimed the admission process was fraught with irregularities.
Minlend went on hunger strike demanding to see his entrance test scripts and his score from an interview.

He has also called on authorities of the Advanced School of Mass Communication (ASMAC) to cancel the exams.

But ASMAC authorities have remained adamant, refusing to release Minlend’s scripts or interview scores.

It is also unlikely that the exams will be cancelled because successful candidates have been in class for two weeks.

Minlend went on strike outside the ASMAC campus on 18 November 2009, refusing to eat anything except water, in protest against the outcome of the entrance test taken from 14-17 September.

He told Standard Tribune last week that the action was indefinite, though he took a break on the 14th day for “health reasons”.
He said he would return at an unspecified date.

“The exams were full of fraud,” he claimed. “Initially there were only 120 places but an additional list of standby candidates brought the number to 178.”
ASMAC authorities said in a letter to Minlend that the law did not permit them to reveal the results of the entrance exam to any candidate.

The director of the school Boyomo Assala would not comment when contacted by Standard Tribune last Wednesday. But he said in a letter to Minlend that the case had been carefully looked at, suggesting his position was final.

Public exams in Cameroon are often marred by allegations of irregularities, fraud and corruption. Standard Tribune was unable to independently confirm if there was fraud in the ASMAC entrace test.