DAKAR, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Center for University Services of Dakar on Tuesday announced the closure of student housing facilities at Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD) from noon the same day until further notice, according to an official statement.
The decision followed the death of a student late Monday after clashes involving students and security forces, which were reported both on campus and on nearby roads in the capital.
The Senegalese government on Tuesday pledged to "shed full light" on the circumstances surrounding the death. In a statement, government spokesperson Marie Rose Khady Fatou Faye extended condolences to the student's family, relatives, and the university community, noting that any responsibilities would be determined in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
She also reaffirmed the authorities' commitment to ensuring campus security and protecting all students, while calling for restraint and calm.
The Dakar campus coordination of the Autonomous Union of Higher Education linked the tensions to scholarship reforms and longstanding structural challenges in higher education, and urged respect for legal protections of university premises under a 1994 law.
Students have been protesting, among other grievances, the closure of university canteens and reforms to scholarship policies. Similar demonstrations have also been reported at other public universities, including in Saint-Louis, Thies and Ziguinchor, according to media reports. ■