Some students of the Kumasi Technical University are protesting management’s call for programme deferment, following their failure to register courses for the current semester.

These students have already missed writing some papers in the ongoing end-of-semester examination.

According to the University, over 11,000 students who registered for the second semester are writing their exams which will end this week.

However, a total of 648 students who could not register are to defer their programmes.

It’s the fifth day of picketing by aggrieved students to have management of the university rescind their decision of not allowing them to sit for the end-of-semester exams.

The students were asked to defer their courses following their inability to register the courses.

While some of the affected students failed to settle their fees, others claim they had challenges logging onto the registration portal.

“After paying the fees, they told us to pay the penalty fee which was 100 cedis. I paid for that. Then I proceeded to the IT to register but they told me the date for registration had expired. We then headed to the registrar who told us a meeting will be held over that and finally on Friday, they announced that we have to defer the courses. I am the one who caters for myself. I sell pure water to pay my fees,” one of the students recounted while shedding tears.

The students were originally due to complete their course registration in May, but after several pleas, the university management agreed to extend the date.

The decision consequently saw four registration deadline extensions.

Acting University Relations Officer, Joshua Appiah says the academic board was magnanimous to consider deferment as the students handbook insists that students who err on such premises are liable to withdrawal.

“We passionately extended the dates consecutively to August 7 so they unregistered students would register to sit for the exams, but they failed to register. The academic board has decided to allow them defer the course but their fees will not be nullified. They will sit for the exams in the second semester of 2023/2024,” he said.

However, some students are contemplating abandoning school over the new directive.