The University of Ghana, Legon and the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) have been issued with a 14-day ultimatum to reverse a decision to increase school fees for the 2020/2021 academic year.
In a statement signed by the Concerned Tertiary Students and dated October 6, the increment by the two schools has been described as unacceptable.
“Students are poised and ready to, by any means necessary, seek redress and thus issue an ultimatum of 14 days after which we will resort to using other mechanisms to seek justice due to increasing number of students agitations,” part of the statement read.
The group also said the 5% rise in school fees by management of the GIJ and the 12% increment by the University of Ghana, Legon is unacceptable as many of the students are struggling to meet the requirement.
“A large number of students are on the verge of dropping out of school because of such an inconsiderate decision,” the group added.
In the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, tertiary institutions truncated their physical engagement and resorted to online studies. Students of most of these tertiary institutions have had to bear the cost of data for learning since the government did not make any special provisions.
As it stands, it is unclear when tertiary institutions will resume and if there will be a physical interaction but some schools have already announced reopening dates and the fees for the next academic year, including the deadlines for the payment of fees.
But expressing their displeasure, some students from these schools have taken to social media to condemn the new directive with the hashtag #TertiaryFeesMustFall.
Management of #GIJ and #Legon cannot be this insensitive.
— EbowAidoo (@zongo_waakye) October 7, 2020
“We’re not in normal times’.#tertiaryfeesmustfall pic.twitter.com/HPlVNmQNjc
One tetiary voice #acall4action #tertiaryfeesmustfall @MBawumia @Sammens @thePOE_T @Sammens @JDMahama pic.twitter.com/z7qgGOGpPm
— Kwame_Amos (@KwameAmos13) October 7, 2020
We won’t accept any exploitation or intimidation. Government must put a human face to this. And a deadline for fees by October 9????
— Smart Takyi Nixon (@smarttakyi) October 7, 2020
Who does that???@lordcudjoe @benkoku#tertiaryfeesmustfall#GIJfeesmustfall pic.twitter.com/3f7eU9mQXu