JOINT PRESS RELEASE ON THE NOMINATION OF HON. SAMUEL OKUDZETO ABLAKWA AS DEPUTY MINISTER DESIGNATE FOR EDUCATION BY LEGON, UCC AND UDS SRCs We received with joy the news of the nomination of Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa as the Deputy Minister designate in charge of Education. We want to thank the President for nominating him as Deputy Minister designate for such an important ministry. The issues that confront the Ghanaian student are enormous and however hard we the student leaders have tried to explain, we have never been well understood. Try hard as we have, the solutions we seek never come and the same problems that have bedeviled Students and the entire movement have regrettably remained with us till now. These problems largely are in respect to access, quality teaching and inadequate supervision of Long Essays and Theses. We have come together to prepare this statement first to congratulate him and to share in his joy of having another opportunity to serve this country. What even excites us the more is the fact that he has once been on the forefront of the fight for academic freedom and intellectual liberty at the highest level when he was the President of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS). We are hopeful that he is still conversant with the challenges students faced at his time and what pertains now. The challenges in the educational sector goes well beyond the students welfare to that of teachers and the allied workers i.e. TEWU, GAUA just to mention a few. Our expectation is that he will be able to strike a very good balance across board. While at the Ministry of Education, we would like him to continuously remind his Minister of the need for transformation in our educational sector to suit national development needs and offer every support towards the attainment of such. As a matter of urgency, we wish that he gives huge attention to the two sets of final year students who are sitting the WASSCE exams this year, taking pragmatic steps to avert any inconveniences that may come with respect to admissions into the Universities. With the Legacies he left as a Student Leader and an Activist, we have no doubt he will excel. We wish him well and hope that he continues to serve Ghana well. Edmond Kombat SRC President University of Ghana, legon 0240944005 Signed Boateng Enock SRC President University of Cape Coast 0244465498 Signed Awudu A. Kantong Central SRC President University of Development Studies 0244614430 Signed