School of Hygiene students picket Sanitation Ministry over unpaid allowance

Final-year students of the Ghana School of Hygiene (GSH) invaded the premises of the Sanitation Ministry in the early hours of Thursday, 6 August 2020, to picket over government’s failure to pay their three-year locked-up allowances.

According to the students, their allowances have been completely scrapped without reason despite the government restoring allowances for other nursing students, adding that, though they are the highest fee-paying nursing school, they receive no money from the government.

To top it all, they get sacked over unpaid fees.

These have left them with no other option than to take action.

On Tuesday, 21 July 2020, Class News reported that the students had boycotted their final exam for the same reason.

A section of the students bemoaned their current situation, posing questions as to why they have been left out.

The students demanded the financial clearance due them, an extension of their final-year examination (which they boycotted earlier) and also that school fees defaulters be allowed to sit the examination since the government owes them.

One of them said that President Akufo-Addo made them a promise during his campaign prior to the 2016 elections, “to pay the allowance” and “give special treatment to students of the School of Hygiene.”

He said: “This time around, we need to get our money. We are receiving our money because it is due time for us to receive the money. We are beneficiaries, so, why are they doing this to us? When the President restored the allowances, even before the president came to power, it was at the School of Hygiene forecourt that he promised that he was going to pay the allowance and that he was going to give special treatment to students of schools of hygiene. Is this the special treatment?”

Another student, who had resolved to sleep at the premises of the Sanitation Ministry until attention is given to them, questioned the whereabouts of a supposed amount of money that was initially allocated to them because their details were taken as beneficiaries.

“I wouldn't have been here if I am not determined to sleep here. One thing I want to ask the government and the Ministry is, during the launch of this allowance, the President allocated some amount to be paid to us. I think it is GHS232 million. Where is our share of that money?” she quizzed.

Meanwhile, Class News’ Nasaria Abdul Rahman indicated that the leadership of the student body met the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Dapaah later in the afternoon to deliberation on the matter.