Students of modern languages in tertiary institutions have appealed to the government to urgently release funds for the 2008/09 Year-Abroad-Programme. The students from the University of Ghana (UG), University of Cape Coast (UoC), University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the Ghana Institute of Languages (GIL), said the uncertainty hanging over the programme has given students great cause for concern because time was running out. The Year-Abroad-Programme is to afford students studying modern languages the opportunity to acquire proficiency in the languages studied by going to the countries where those languages are spoken. Addressing the press in Accra, Mr Placide D. Guiatin said students of UEW who were to go to Togo in July were still in the country stranded. “Students of Swahili from the UG who are supposed to be getting ready to go to Tanzania are at home. Students of French, Arabic, Spanish, Russia from the UCC, KNUST, UG and School of Translators are supposed to be leaving at the end of the month but up till now we don’t know whether we will be going or not," he said. He therefore appealed to the government to clear the uncertainties surrounding the programme. Mr Guiatin said the programme was to enable students to have first-hand experience in terms of cultural exchange and to be equipped enough to become good users, masters and teachers in the languages. He said with the current situation, students from the UG and the School of Translators would be forced to stay at home for one academic year. He said the human resource of a country is developed through good communication skills in various working languages, especially in the economic sector. "Studying languages to a high level which plays a key role in the socio-economic development of the country will reduce drastically. This is because students opt to offer languages at the university with the hope of entering the Year-Abroad-Programme to help them polish their languages, knowing very well that it is difficult if not impossible, to study foreign languages in Ghana," he said. Source: The Graphic