Ignore calls on partial refund – Educationist tells University of Ghana

An educationist and president of Educate Ghana Summit, William Boadi, has urged authorities at the University of Ghana to disregard the increasing calls by its students to refund part of their academic and residential fees into their various accounts due to a twist in their learning process.

Speaking in an interview with GhanaWeb on Monday, May 18, 2020, he said he acknowledges the devastating effects of Coronavirus on Ghana’s education system and the challenges it pose to students to effectively learn from home due to a ban on public gathering.

But Mr William Boadi believes students at the University of Ghana shouldn’t use that as a yardstick to demand for a partial refund.

To him, the students shouldn’t have made such calls in the first place because the University is still providing them with E-learning services.

He noted that, although students had to resort to the purchase of airtime/recharge cards in other to partake in their online classes, the university can’t afford to refund part of the fees to its students.

“I know University of Ghana very well and I know they spend a lot money on several projects on campus annually. Trust me it will be extremely difficult for UG to heed to the refund calls and that is why I’m asking them not to embark on any payment of partial academic or residential fees.”

He however advised authorities at the University of Ghana to reduce next academic/residential fees in order to make up for the cost the students incurred during the E-learning period.

Background

Two students of the University of Ghana launched an online petition, rallying support from fellow students to demand partial refund of academic and residential fees from authorities.

According to the students, Kojo Danquah and Sampson Tagbor, there is a seeming breach of agreement between students and the university as academic work has switched online.

“We are of the strong conviction that the agreement for academic tuition and residency the University had with students prior to admission and registration are hinged on the invaluable face-to-face lecture delivery by lecturers, social contact and academic interactions among students and direct access to facilities like the Science Labs, Computer Labs, WiFi System, Sporting fields, the well-equipped Library System including that of departmental and Junior Common Rooms (JCRs) libraries among others of which students are no longer guaranteed access to under the current E-Learning arrangements for the rest of the semester,” a brief on the petition said.

It is unclear how many signatories the lead petitioners require to submit their petition to the authorities.

But they stated: “By signing this petition, you are providing critical support to the petitioners to advance this noble cause in and on behalf of the general interests of students.”

The University of Ghana suspended lectures on Sunday, March 15, two days after a student who had visited the US was confirmed positive.

The student was one of the first cases of COVID-19 in Ghana.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu announced the suspension of lectures in a live broadcast.