Tafileh University students punishments overturned

Fourteen Tafileh University students who were suspended or expelled from school over acts of campus violence related to an ongoing student protest had their punishments revoked Tuesday, according to a representative of the students.The decision was made at a meeting yesterday between representatives of the students and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Rowaida Maaitah.Majdi Faraheed, a representative of the students who attended the meeting, told The Jordan Times over the phone yesterday that the university’s council of deans will convene today to formally overturn the expulsions and suspensions.He also said Maaitah would visit the university today and meet with the protesting students to discuss their demands.Neither university officials nor the minister were available to confirm Faraheed’s statement, despite several attempts by The Jordan Times to contact them.Students at the southern university started a sit-in last month to demand several improvements to their campus, free education for all, and the right to elect the dean of student affairs.Following acts of violence at the university, an investigative committee decided to expel seven students and suspend seven others for two semesters, Tafileh University President Yaqoub Masaafeh told the Jordan Times earlier this week.According to Masaafeh, when the students received the decision, they attacked the dean of the science faculty, sending him to the hospital, as well as the office of the university’s vice president.The students have denied these allegations.Prior to yesterday’s meeting, around 200 demonstrators gathered outside the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to express solidarity with the 14 students, who the demonstrators claimed were treated unfairly.Laila Mustafa, a student at the University of Jordan, said she took part in yesterday’s protest to support the Tafileh University students and their demands.“These students did not do anything wrong and they received unfair punishment. They asked for essential demands, which are required by any university student,” she told The Jordan Times during the protest.Mustafa questioned why students who commit acts of violence at other university campuses do not receive such punishments, asserting that these students were punished for asking for their minimum rights.Rana Abdullah, whose relatives live in the southern city of Tafileh, also claimed that the students did not do anything wrong.“Their demonstration was peaceful and did not harm any student at the university. Besides, I am sure that these students did not attack the university president and the university’s staff,” she said, accusing the government of adopting a policy of punishing the good and rewarding the corrupt.Noureddine Abu Rumman, an activist from the city of Salt, described the students’ demands as “fair”.“Free education, which is on the students’ lists of demands, is actually available in Jordan but it is directed inappropriately. Free education is provided for the children of ministers and high ranking figures, not for underprivileged people,” he told The Jordan Times.Mohammad Assoub, who took part in the protest, said that the protesting Tafileh students represent all students in Jordan.“These demands are the demands of all students in the Kingdom. Free education is one of the most important items on the list of demands, because not all students can afford to meet the expenses of the universities. Besides, other Arab countries like Egypt and Syria apply this system,” he added.The Opposition Parties Higher Coordination Committee also called for the students’ punishments to be overturned in a statement issued yesterday, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.