"Government committed to development of UDS" - Minister

Tamale, Dec 07, GNA - Ms Elizabeth Ohene, the Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education, on Wednesday reaffirmed the government's commitment to the development of the University for Development Studies (UDS) to befit its status. She said the government would strive to improve facilities at the campuses, particularly those at Wa and Navrongo, where laboratories and residential accommodation for the students were inadequate and appalling.

Ms Ohene was speaking at a meeting with the university authorities and the media in Tamale. The Minister is on a visit to the Nyankpala, Navrongo and Wa campuses of the University and other educational institutions under her ministry. Ms Ohene said even though there were problems in all the country's universities, the UDS had a peculiar problem of being established without any seed money. "On my rounds, I realised that the top priority of the UDS is the provision of adequate lecture halls, laboratories and residential accommodation." She said the country was in an era of development and improvement and that UDS would get its share of development to improving education in northern Ghana.

On the special schools, Ms Ohene said the situation was appalling because these institutions were left at the mercy of NGOs and churches, describing it as a societal problem that needed to be addressed. Prof. John Kaburise, the Vice-Chancellor of UDS, said the university had not been neglected but asked the government to do more to improve teaching and learning. He said the university would continue to put the problems of UDS before the government to ensure that these were addressed one after the other. Ms Ohene also visited the Tamale Polytechnic and the Savelugu School for the Deaf.