Lack of facilities cuts UDS admissions

Wa, Nov. 19, GNA - Inadequate infrastructure and academic facilities on the various campuses of the University for Development Studies (UDS), has resulted in a drastic reduction in admission of students from 7,020 last year to 2,649 for the 2011/2012 academic year.

The University, by this action, wants to ensure that the infrastructure on the campuses matched with student numbers, and intake would be reviewed in subsequent years if the situation improved to cope with higher numbers of students.

Out of the 2,649 students admitted this year, Nyankpala Campus took 145, while 293 went to Navrongo, 432 to Tamale Campus with the rest going to the Wa Campus.

Professor Haruna Yakubu, Vice-Chancellor of the UDS revealed this when 1,779 fresh students matriculated at the Wa campus of the University on Saturday at Bamahu near Wa in the Upper West region.

The students took the Matriculation Oath after which they signed the Matriculation Register, which are processes that qualified them to become junior members of the university.

The Wa campus houses three faculties, namely the Faculty of Integrated Development Studies, which is its flagship programme, Faculty of Planning and Land Management, and the Faculty of Education, Law and Business Studies.

Prof. Yakubu said the university maintained its commitment to admitting more qualified female applicants to pursue academic programmes at the tertiary level by admitting 739 of them this academic year.

He noted that female education was very low in the country and more so in the three northern regions adding that UDS as a gender sensitive institution would continue to adhere to that admission policy.

The Vice-Chancellor appealed to the Government and GETFund to provide more academic residential facilities on the university’s campuses as a necessity for the admission of more students in subsequent years.

“We are particularly appealing that where any infrastructure or facility is to be provided to UDS, Government and the GETFund should consider providing enough funds so that each of the campuses will benefit from the facility,” he said.

Prof. Yakubu said all the campuses faced the same problems and therefore required residential accommodation for staff, halls of residence for students, large lecture room spaces, auditoriums, access and tarred roads.

Professor Francis Bacho, Dean in charge of the Wa Campus, welcomed the students and urged them to abide by all the rules and regulations governing their stay in the university.