The cry of continuing students in the Colleges of Education

The impact of COVID-19 has been felt by all but we believe we are having the major part of it. Following the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's declaration made in his last and recent Address to the Nation, continuing students of the Colleges of Education and the Universities were to report to campus on Monday, 24th August to prepare and sit for their end-of-semester exams.

It is against this backdrop the Institute of Education, University of Cape Coast took an intermediary decision that the students in the Colleges of Education should report on 31st instead of 24th to have just a week and I repeat, just a week academic work and then proceed to write their end-of-semester exams.

We are very much disturbed by this decision because almost all the courses we are taking this semester are practical based. How can online studies be sufficient to pass a practical based exam? I wonder! If this had been feasible, they would and I know would have conducted online exams as well. If not, why not?

How many students had good phones and a good network to access the online lecture? How many many Lecture managed to exhaust their course outline? Majority of the areas to be covered are in arrears because of the unsuccessful nature of the online lectures. Are we to suffer the consequences of what we have no hands in(Covid-19 and unsuccessful online lectures)?

Meanwhile, this same Institute of Education, UCC, sacked more than 400 students from the Colleges of Education for poor performance last year. If I may ask, is the Institute of Education, UCC looking forward to sack more and put our lives into a misery this time around? In short, this is gross wickedness, a threat to our Educational well-being. In fact, in Akan, we would say "h?n nson gu gyam" (literally to mean that our intestines are in fire) as no one can be sure of their fate in this end-of-semester exams or perhaps we must find a job elsewhere as backup? My dear reader, how will you describe this act?

Also, when things were normal, UCC would conduct three(3) exams i.e First quiz, second quiz and then end-of-semester exams for GHC400.00. It is in this ugly time charging the same amount(GHC400.00) for only end-of-semester exams. What has gone wrong? What have we done to merit this mal-practice? Or perhaps we are not worth enough to service this Nation through teaching? Hmmm.

We are therefore appealing to the masses and the working President to cause a review in the afore-mentioned motion through his order for this period has been a hell for us. Our superiors are indifferent about the mental torture we are going through and nothing of ours seems to be theirs.