About six thousand students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) have been forced by the University to defer their courses.
This was after KNUST issued a release notifying students who owe more than 70 per cent of school fees by April 7 would be deferred automatically. But the warning did not take effect at the time.
According to sources, students were allowed to take part in the mid-semester exams, which started on April 11.
The students who still had arrears to cover were, after the first week of April, made to defer their courses.
Although 6,000 is a small proportion of the school’s 85,000 population, it is the first time such a huge number of students have been affected.
In an interview on Joy FM's Midday News on Wednesday, the University Relations Officer, Dr Daniel Norris Bekoe, stated that the University’s action is in the right direction.
He noted that the issue of students not settling fees has persisted over the years; therefore, the need to “apply the fees policy this year which has been approved by the academic board and it is required that as an undergraduate student you must register your courses at the beginning of the semester and pay 70%.”
He said that the University has now “given a window from February through March and April" for students with arrears to pay.
According to him, some of the students have channeled their fees to other avenues to generate money.
“A number of students are playing games with the University. For example, they use their school fees to buy Uber; others are setting up bakeries...while others are using it for betting, and we have evidence,” he said.
But some of the affected students say they are genuinely needy, stating that the bursaries and other scholarships they had applied for had not taken effect.
Consequently, they want the school to extend the period.
Latest Stories
-
Samson’s Take: Journalists, block the pretentious idiots
36 mins -
Real Madrid crowned LaLiga champions after Barcelona’s defeat at Girona
1 hour -
Daniel Otting Awuah elected SRC President of Ghana School of Law
2 hours -
Lawrence Ati-Zigi signs St. Gallen contract extension
2 hours -
We should be careful not to destroy our institutions without just cause – Serebour Quaicoe
2 hours -
Cecilia Dapaah’s case: EOCO hasn’t requested for FBI report – Office of the Special Prosecutor
4 hours -
Andre Ayew scores 5th league goal as Le Havre beat Strasbourg
4 hours -
Ejisu by-election: NPP didn’t sanction money distribution to voters – Richard Ahiagbah
5 hours -
Ghana Health Service opens vacancies for 204 doctors, 25 dentists
5 hours -
Domestic tourism on the rebound with 1.4m visits to attraction sites in 2023 – GTA
6 hours -
Government working hard to complete Tema General Hospital project – Dr Okoe Boye
6 hours -
Ipswich Town seal Premier League promotion after 22 years absence
6 hours -
Accord journalists the respect due them – Opare Gyan
6 hours -
EPL: Arsenal beat Bournemouth to go four points clear of Man City
6 hours -
Cecilia Dapaah’s case: What’s happening now is a clear indication of cover-up – Amaliba
6 hours