The Student's Representative Council (SRC) of the University of Ghana has petitioned management of the institution to reconsider its decision to conduct the first semester exam on-site and instead, allow students to write it online.

The SRC described as "unpopular" the decision "to have the end of semester exams on-site amidst the rise in the Covid-19 cases and deaths across the country".

They further noted that 'The rise in the cases of Covid-19 has been mainly attributed to the mass gathering of persons. It was for this reason that the university implemented the 'No visitors' policy in the various halls of residence.

"We understand that this was one of the major reasons that informed the decision of the University to run academic work online," a statement from the SRC said.

For this reason among others, the student representative body wants the end of semester exam for the first track of students (100-400) to be written online, as adopted in the previous semester "to safeguard their health."

"Since writing examinations involve many students, we propose that as examinations were taken online in the last semester, same can be done this semester.” the statement added.

Highlighting the "abysmal performance of the Sakai LSM Platform", the online learning and teaching platform of the University, and its effect on the performance of students, the SRC stated that they had expected the "agreement reached between the SRC and management concerning exams would have been held".

The SRC further raised concerns over issues with the school's Wi-Fi connectivity on campus.

According to the Council, although they engaged the Chief Information Technology Officer (CITO) concerning the improvement of Wi-Fi connectivity on campus so as to ensure the "that the online academic work is devoid of any serious internet challenges", no "tangible results show for all the assurances" they received regarding the issue.

"The CITO was invited to give an account of the provisions made so far regarding Wi-Fi issues, he stated emphatically that many APs (Wi-Fi data distributors) were procured and were ready for installation.

"Up till now, we have not seen any of those APs being installed anywhere on campus, and our students continue to lament over poor Wi-Fi connectivity".

While being understanding of management's concern to ensure the quality, credibility and transparency of their mode of assessment, they "believe measures can be put in place to ensure that these come to play if we conduct the exam online".