The University of Ghana has been forced to cancel the online Interim Assessment (IA) for its students due to ongoing disruptions in internet connectivity.

In addition to the cancellation of the interim assessment, online lectures at the University of Ghana have also been suspended until further notice.

On Thursday, March 14, the country experienced disruptions in internet connectivity due to damage to undersea fibre optic cables.

The National Communications Authority (NCA) has acknowledged the disruptions and stated that telecommunications engineers are working to restore the damaged cables as soon as possible.

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According to the NCA, it may take up to five weeks for the faulty undersea cables to be restored.

The disruptions in internet connectivity have had a significant impact on institutions that rely heavily on the internet for their daily operations.

Portions of a letter from some University of Ghana lecturers to their students read:

“Dear students, due to the internet connectivity issue being currently experienced, the IA will not be held as scheduled from March 16 to March 17. We will monitor the situation and announce a new day during the course of the week.”

Background

Ghanaians battling interruptions from their data service providers may have to wait for at least, another five weeks.

This is because that is how long the National Communication Authority (NCA) estimates it may take for the faulty undersea cables to be restored, bringing back stable connections in the affected countries

The NCA made this known in a press release on Saturday, March 16, 2024.

This was after a meeting with the four subsea cable landing service providers (ACE, MainOne, SAT-3 and WACS).

It comes three days after data services from most of the telecommunications companies shut down, impacting people and businesses in some African countries including Ghana.