Kumasi Technical University puts in measures to ensure safety of students

The Kumasi Technical University (KsTU) has put in place measures to ensure the safety of students who have started arriving on the campus, as the country’s universities reopen for the 2020/21 academic year.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in his 21st address to the nation on the measures taken to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, directed Ghanaian universities to reopen their campuses for effective academic work to commence, after several months of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A visit by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to the campus saw the University security personnel with the support of the students' Cadet Corp stationed at vantage points to assist and ensure the safety of the arriving students.

Veronica buckets filled with water, detergents and tissue papers have been mounted at vantage places while temperatures of all those entering the campus are taking at the entrance of the University.

Dr Charles Obeng Sarpong, Public Relation Officer of the University speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi, said the authorities had notified all arriving students to strictly adhere to the COVID-19 safety protocols.

He pointed out that a mass fumigation exercise had already been done before opening the campus, adding that the authorities had put in place all the necessary measures for the safety of the students.

Dr Sarpong said the University would not run the shift system as others had proposed, but had put in place stringent strategies to ensure the safety of both students and lecturers.

The authorities, he said, had decentralized the student registration exercise and also reduced the number of students in halls of residence as part of measures to promote social distancing.

Students offering practical courses would also be grouped and attend practical sessions in batches, while lectures would be conducted both online and face-to-face.

“The authorities of the school had put in place all the necessary measures needed to help guide the safety of the students in the midst of the pandemic,” Dr Sarpong stated.

He urged the students arriving to strictly adhere to all the safety protocols laid down by the school authorities.

Dr Sarpong said the continuing students were also expected to report to campus on Saturday, January 16.