Don't mix single halls against students' will - Education Minister

The Minister of Education, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has warned that authorities at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) should not impose their decision of turning the two male halls into mixed halls against the decision of the students.

The Minister has said that, the opinions of the students resisting the conversion of the two halls into mixed ones should be respected and suggested authorities should rather engage the students in a dialogue.

He said, “Everything is about dialogue. Gone are the days of imposition. So, they should sit down with the students…I’ll plead with the Tech (KNUST) authorities not to do anything without involving the students. They should call the students and respect their views…We should meet with the students’ body and jaw-jaw”.

He expressed his personal opinion on the matter that the male halls should not be converted while stating that Katanga is a unique hall.

However. Hon. Prempeh did not say much about whether or not the African Hall which which is the only all females hall in the school should also be converted into a mixed hall.

He further said that, it will be better if the halls are not touched and rather left the way they are adding that, troubles should not be created because one wields power.

"The authorities should think about it carefully. We should not just do anything because we have power. Where there’s no trouble, you don’t go and cause trouble, "he said.

The university has three single sex halls, University Hall (Katanga) and Unity Hall being all males halls and Africa Hall being the all females hall.