The University of Ghana Medical Students’ Association (UGMSA) has raised concerns over the rollout of the school’s e-learning platforms necessitated by its closure.

According to the Association, the modality of course supervision in this interim measure does not do justice to the practical learning in their departments.

“This enterprise is sure to benefit students of the first, second and third-year who are currently undertaking their basic science program at the University of Ghana Medical school because their program focuses mainly on the theoretical aspect of the medical training with less emphasis on clinical work but even then, the anatomy course run at the Basic Science level consists of dissection of human cadavers which is another critical practical aspect that requires hands-on contact and peer-to-peer interaction,” the Association said in a statement.

The University of Ghana has since March 16, been shut down following a directive by President Akufo-Addo’s for educational institutions across the country to close down in a move to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Ghana has so far recorded 136 confirmed cases of COVID-19, one of which is a student of the University of Ghana who returned from a trip abroad.

The university has upgraded its online learning platforms to allow teaching and learning to continue while at home amid the respect for social distancing protocols.

The initiative is set to begin from March 30 has seen the university’s Academic Affairs directorate migrate and create course sites for over 90% of its courses.

But in a statement signed by its president, Armah Christian, UGMSA was curious as to how this initiative would address the needs of students in their clinical years.

“We the students question how the University intends to simulate the clinical interaction, hands-on clinical examination of patients and direction from our lectures on the E-learning platform that is necessary for the completion of our course,” the March 25 communique quizzed.

Read the full statement here.