UG SRC president breaks silence on 2020/2021 academic fee increment

The interim president of the University of Ghana Students Representative Council (UG-SRC), Kwame-Amo Ntow-Fianko, has responded to calls on the student body to fight against the increment of academic fees for the 2020/2021 academic year.

Management of the University, on Monday, September 14, 2020, published on their website the schedule for fees for the 2020/2021 academic year.

The academic fees for the 2020/2021 academic year saw a marginal increment of at least 12.30 percent from the 2019/2020 fee schedule.

Since UniversNews reported the upward review of academic fees for the 2020/2021 academic year, students have asked the SRC to quickly engage the management of the university to consider their decision.

According to these students, the timing is wrong as the finances of families have been heavily impacted by the outbreak of the coronavirus disease.

Responding to these, Kwame-Amo Ntow-Fianko, on his personal Twitter page, said that the SRC would do everything with its means to address the matter.

I share in your grievances and we’re doing everything within our means as an SRC to address matters of the academic fees increment. @univers1057fm

— Kwame-Amo Ntow-Fianko (@NtowFiako) September 14, 2020

Parliamentary approval

According to the Fees and Charges Act 983, any proposal to increase fees will first have to be approved by parliament. As it stands, it is unclear if the observed increment has been given the go-ahead by parliament.

Prior to this, tuition fees were increased for the 2019/2020 academic year by 5 percent. This was later assented to by parliament.

The University of Ghana is one of the few schools to have increased fees for the next academic year.

Ghana Institute of Journalism, earlier this month increased fees by 5 percent for the 2020/2021 academic year.