Considering their importance to the universities and the effect of increased undergraduate numbers on all aspects of university life, remarkably little external attention seems to have been paid to the needs and conditions of the students themselves, as a body. Student loan schemes may be the exception to prove the rule.

Yet the students have made their presence felt. Almost every one of the universities visited during the course of this study either was closed, or had recently been closed, as a result of student unrest. On several campuses the university managements and academic staff, in some cases with sympathetic government support, were engaged in reflecting upon the causes and implications of the student outburst, and taking what action they could.

Since the most recent disturbances were only the latest in a recurring history of campus disruption, it is not surprising that some university people regard the relations between the student body, the university management, and the government (or ruling political regime) as a fundamental, not an incidental, phenomenon in African university life. It follows, if this is so, that all parties concerned with the recovery of the African universities should treat the issue with respect.

It has been suggested that the students of Africa have for generations accepted a self-appointed mission to speak out on national issues on behalf of their parents and the suffering masses of their countries. If this is so, periodic conflict with the political authorities is inevitable. Consideration might be given to the type of forum which, in times of tranquillity, might be established, to enable a round-table dialogue to take place