Govt urged to intervene in tertiary students' problems

Accra, November 10, GNA - The University Students Association of Ghana (USAG) on Thursday expressed reservations on the new Student Loan Trust, saying the draft document was full of technicalities that needed to be explained.

"We in the association have our reservations in that the draft document for the Loan Trust has many technical jargons which we believe need general explanation before the scheme becomes operational.'' " An example is the popular robust mechanism for loan retrieval of two percent point above inflation and most especially the student representation on the board of the Trust".

Mr. Samuel Kwadwo Frimpong, President of USAG who said this at a press briefing, however commended the government for the initiative but appealed to the government to smooth the rough edges before the Trust takes off.

USAG, a bloc under the Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), also registered its displeasure over the disbursement of the GETFund stressing that it was meant to complement government subvention and not as the panacea for the problems of education in the country.

"The GETFund is not supposed to take the sole responsibility of government subvention but rather to complement government subvention so that we can get quality but affordable education in Ghana".

Mr Frimpong also touched on problems facing universities such as the rampant fee increment without consideration in the Accra City Campus of the University of Ghana and the Islamic University College, exploitation of landlords due to lack of accommodation on campuses and called for immediate government intervention.

He commended the authorities of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the University of Cape Coast for the recent stance they took on the Mzbel incident and the stabbing of students. It said the proposed punishment for the three students identified by the investigative committee in the Mzbel saga was a good start to help curb future occurrences.