NUGS Prez Decries Poor Conditions On Campuses

THE PRESIDENT Of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Mr. Felix Kyei-Baffour, has lamented that the government had allocated only about two per cent of her GDP to education, which was almost the lowest in the world.

Speaking to The Chronicle in an interview Tuesday this week, Kyei-Baffuor said the government had fallen short of the real ingredient of democracy, which he explained was developing education on campuses.

"Any attempt to enhance democracy must begin with developing education," he noted.

According to him, the conditions on the various campuses ranged from the lack of academic facilities, human resources, teaching and a host of others which he said would have to be given the due and necessary attention on our national menu.

He noted that funds and other resources that government wanted to channel into funding political parties should rather be used judiciously in building a strong and vibrant education structure to provide education for all and sweep the streets of waifs and ignorance.

He claimed that some of the student leaders had been intimidated as they discharged their legitimate duties.

Dilating further, he stated that their representative at the GETFund had just been given his appointment letter, after much frustration and numerous phone calls and letters to the secretariat.

According to him, the students had pleaded that the government paid all arrears of the fund to allow infrastructure projects on their campuses in Ghana.

He said students in the various campuses were confused and did not see their way clear, as far as the issue of the SSNIT loan was concerned.

However, he urged the government to ensure an equitable distribution of resources to avoid conflict and to revamp, renovate and build new structures for all tertiary institutions in the country, particularly the medical school of the University for Development Studies (UDS).

He emphasised that NUGS was awaiting the establishment of a new loan scheme so that they could also enjoy privileges as their counterparts in most African countries.