EDUCATION IN FREEDOM:AN ODD WE MUST DEFY,LEAVING NO ONE BEHIND➖MICHAEL ABUAH LAMENTS

 Master Michael ABUAH,immediate past president of the SCIENCE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION and a Presidential aspirant in this year’s KNUST SRC Elections has written an open letter to the SRC President 

He says NO STUDENT MUST BE LEFT BEHIND in these critical moments as the school has taken a decision to defer all students owing fees.

Read the full statement below:

Dear President,

The events that precede my penning down this letter are rather unfortunate and have saddened my heart. I wish to bring to your notice that some students have been unable to register their courses as a result of their inability to pay their school fees in full as well as issues with clearance.

It saddens me, Mr. President, that we are a week away from Mid-semester examinations which constitutes a good part of the cumulative marks of students and ensures their promotion as they ascend the academic ladder. If the students cannot partake in the Mid-semester examinations, they lose a chunk of the marks that could push them to do well in their overall performance.

Mr. President, we must realize the amount stress and pain these students are going through as a result of the disadvantage they are facing currently. With the covid-19 pandemic destabilizing a big part of the Ghanaian economy, we are equally aware of how some persons lost their jobs and probably their only source of livelihood.

What is even more saddening is that most of these students have probably not gotten access to the Student Loan Fund, others have not had their fees disbursed (from scholarship schemes) and as a result, students who depend on these as means to pay their fees have lost all hope. Not only are such happenings disheartening for these students, but are also very distracting for them psychologically, especially when the demands of the academic curricular requires so much focus.

Mr. President, in firm belief of how sacrosanct and respectable your office is, your outfit is the best to represent the worries of these students. I wish to urge you to use this office with backing from the SRC Parliament to immediately begin talks with school administration on how to solve this situation as the midsemester approaches fast.

As you negotiate on behalf of students, you must be guided by these four things :

1) Students cannot be made to defer the academic year on grounds of financial challenges.

2) The school has a history of allowing everyone to write exams and making access to results impossible without fee payment which is better than being disallowed from writing exam.

3) Students are ready to sign undertakings to commit themselves to payment before results. 

4) The SRC should be ready to serve as a guarantor for every student.

I believe that with a firm backing from your outfit and parliament, we can hope that the plight and views of these students are represented which is all in the achievement of the core mandate of the SRC. The entire student body is here to support you, Mr. President, in the bid to speak on our behalf.

We hope you respond positively to this.

What are your thoughts on the statement?