The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has commended the government for accrediting the University for Development Studies Medical School. It has, however, raised concerns about the state of the Tamale Teaching Hospital which is said makes it difficult for medical students from UDS to access the facilities they need. The President of the Union, Mr. Kweku Tuoho Bombason made the observation at a joint ceremony to launch the Union’s website (www.nugstoday.com) and its revamped newspaper, the Student Voice. “We are, therefore, drawing the attention of government to the situation at the Tamale Teaching Hospital as well as the School of Medicine and Health Sciences of the UDS. Prompt action by government is needed to ensure that adequate medical staff are trained to enhance health delivery in the country,” he pointed out. Mr. Bombason also stressed the need for urgent steps to be taken to provide text books to schools to make the education reforms implementable. According to him, the situation where text books and other relevant materials were not available months after the introduction of the reforms was worrying. He also touched on increases in academic facilities user fees, saying they will bring untold hardship to students. To ameliorate the situation, he advocated an increase in student loans including bursaries for graduate students. Mr. Bombason also expressed worry at the stalled programme to provide every child with a laptop computer. That he said militated against the nation’s desire to enhance IT studies and called for action to implement the one-laptop-per-child programme. “We believe that government considers education a priority area. It is therefore our hope that adequate measures will be put in place to address the concerns we have raised,” he noted. The NUGS president announced that the Union will hold its annual delegates congress at Nyankpala in the Northern Region from August 27 to 31, 2008. The theme for the congress is Ensuring peaceful, Free and Fair Election 2008; The Role of the Student”. Story by Malik Abass Daabu