Information reaching the Chronicle indicates that some lecturers and other members of staff at the University of Ghana, Legon have turned the academic institution into a gold mining site from where they make millions of cedis at the start of every academic year.
They collect monies between ?12 and ?16 million from parents who are desperate in ensuring that their wards gain admission into the nation's premier university by hook or by crook.
Not only do they obtain admissions but also they also secure accommodation on campus and also provide good courses for their clients.
It appears that even though some of the students are privy to such practices on campus, they are afraid to own up for the fear of losing their student status when they are found out.
Chronicle also learnt that there had been complaints among the student body that some students whose grades fall below the university's entry requirements get easy admission, while their colleagues who had better grades find it tough, giving credence to the fact that, indeed, people are paying huge sums of money in exchange for admission at Legon.
We also gathered that some fresh students even secure their accommodations when their results had not been released by WAEC for them to know whether they had passed or not.
However, the Registrar of the University, Mr. Teddy Konu, in an interview, denied all the allegations saying "they are not true."
He explained that in an attempt to improve upon the system to ensure a transparent admission process for the 2002-03 academic year, a seven-member committee, chaired by Prof. Kwame Gyekye, was charged, among other things, to study the admission process and suggest ways in which it can be improved upon and its integrity safeguarded.
The committee was also to audit the 2002/03 admission exercise and make any other suggestions which in the view of the committee will make the admission process more transparent.
Mr. Konu was unequivocal on the fact that the committee did an excellent job which deserves commendation from all.
According to him, the committee's enquiry discovered why there were delays in the process, which was as a result of the introduction of an electronic scanable form, a system most of the students did not know how to operate, thereby making mistakes which caused delayances in the process.
He reiterated that applicants are selected on merit; that is, based on their grades in their last examinations at either the SSSCE or 'A' levels and not by any other means.
As far as admissions at the university are concerned, he noted, results of applicants are brought before an admission board, made up of representatives from the various faculties on campus who would screen them for the best results.
The Registrar continued that there are instances where some people play on the ignorance of other people whose grades could have qualified them anyway.
He recounted a situation where as the Academic Registrar, some years ago, a case was brought before him by a senior civil servant who claimed that one of the university staff had collected money from him with a promise of securing admission for his ward, who had aggregate nine (9).
It was after the ward had gained admission that the man discovered that the university staff had defrauded him because he realised that with the ward's grade, he need not have paid any money to secure admission.
However, the staff refuted the allegation and when the senior civil servant was called upon to come out and testify before him (Mr. Konu) that the man indeed collected money from him, he refused.
On why some of the students with low grades sometimes gain admission into the university, Mr. Konu pointed out that there is something known as concessionary facility, which allows lecturers and staff of the university, "friends of the university," lecturers and staff of Cape Coast University and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to submit one applicant for consideration.
Indications are that regardless of the grades obtained by beneficiaries of the concessionary facility, they can automatically gain admission into the premier university.
