COMMUNIQUE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL UNION OF GHANA STUDENTS TO CLIMAX THE END OF THE MAIDEN EDITION OF THE NUGS WEEK CELEBRATION HELD AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON FROM WEDNESDAY, 21st JANUARY,2015 TO SUNDAY, 25th JANUARY, 2015.

The leadership of NUGS wishes to issue this communiqué to climax the triumphant end of the union’s maiden week celebration which is anchored on the theme “ENSURING TOTAL COMMITMENT TO QUALITY EDUCATION; THE

ROLE OF STAKEHOLDERS”. The choice of this theme is

indicative of the fact that as a union we have realized that not much is been done by the various stakeholders in the attainment of quality education and sought to use this milestone occasion

to reinvigorate and direct our spirit into ensuring that all

the relevant parties play their respective roles as expected.

We are not oblivious of the fact that there are several

stakeholders in education; however, for the purpose of this communique, we have categorized them into three. The stakeholders herein include government and its agencies,private sector/individuals and the students . It is however very significant to make the point that these roles are very much interlinked hence the need for regular harmonization and the necessary realignment of their individual roles to achieve a better return.

EXAMINING THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT AS A

STAKEHOLDER 

We wish to begin by examining the role of government as a stakeholder in ensuring commitment to the attainment of quality education in the country as the theme suggests. It is

our respectful submission that government remains the

number one stakeholder as a far as the attainment of quality education is concerned due to the indispensable and

burdensome role it is expected to play in this regard. By the current nature of our democratic jurisprudence, a lot of

power, authority and resources have been reposed in trust in the hands of the government to be able to combine them effectively in creating the requisite congenial environment in

order to ensure that every facet of our national life performs creditably.

The primary responsibility of the government is to ensure

the timeous release of the necessary human, monetary and capital teaching and learning resources get to every level of the educational ladder, which is basic to tertiary institutions.

This must be complemented by the provision of adequate

infrastructure to enhance effective education delivery at

each level. NUGS has observed that successive governments over the years have performed abysmally especially in the timely release of feeding subventions to basic and second cycle institutions. The least said about government’s commitment

to issues of GETfund, the better.

Government through its ministries and agencies like the Ministry of Education, GES, Centre for Tertiary Education as well as the National Accreditation Board is expected to design

and ensure the successful implementation of laudable

educational policies and programmes that would cater for the needs of all concerned.

Government also plays instrumental role in determining the content of the educational curriculum or subject matter and this must be done through effective consultation with all the

other relevant stakeholders for their inputs.

Government must also revise its approach in dealing with

labour relative issues in the country and possibly adopt

a more receptive strategy; which would entail a more

constructive and human centered approach in order to

prevent the preponderance of strike actions by teacher

unions every now and then.

THE ROLE OF THE STUDENT 

Students are obviously the ultimate brunt bearers of the

various policies and programmes as well as the actions and inactions of all the stakeholders in the education enterprise.

They are therefore expected to play certain fundamental

roles in this regard so that they would safeguard their educational rights. They are also expected to discharge certain responsibilities in order to fully enjoy their rights. Their fundamental role in ensuring quality education is by taking their studies seriously and also capitalize on the conducive teaching and learning environment created within the school system in order to pass their exams as expected.

They are therefore enjoined to eschew all actions that

are counterproductive to the full realization of their educational potentials like truancy, academic and examination malpractices, intellectual dishonesty, resorting to violence

as a means of seeking redress to their grievances among several others.

In as much as we charge on government and the other

stakeholders to ensure that the necessary teaching and

learning facilities and resources are provided to schools, we also think that it behooves on the students to take proper

care and maintenance of these facilities in the interest of all.

Students must also strive to adhere to high disciplinary

standards and live above reproach in all their educational dealings since there is a direct relationship between discipline

and academic progress.

THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR 

For the purpose of this communique, the private sector essentially comprises of private individuals, parents, NGOs and religious organizations who have set up educational institutions to complement the efforts of government in the effective delivery of education in the country. This is because

government alone cannot cater for the educational needs of the citizenry hence the need for private intervention.

Parents for instance are enjoined to ensure that their wards are provided with the necessary facilities to enhance their academic progression. They are also supposed to actively

participate in Parent Teacher Association (PTA) engagements and thus help in the education of their wards and the provision of the necessary experiential guidance and counseling services.

Private individuals, NGO’s and religious organizations that

engage in educational enterprises such as the

establishment of schools must adhere strictly to the relevant laws and regulations governing the nation’s educational milieu and

ensure that they get the necessary accreditation for the courses they offer. They must endeavor to charge approved fees and ensure they conform to standards setup by the various regulating authorities.

CONCLUSION

The National Union of Ghana Students wishes to express

hope that all the relevant stakeholders identified above would discharge their respective roles effectively because that is the only way as a country we can achieve the kind of quality

education we are yearning for.

Thank you.

Long live the nation’s education front!

Long live NUGS!!

SIGNED:

RHODALYN ESHUN

(PRESS AND INFORMATION SECRETARY)

0246701359

PROSPER DZITSE

(PRESIDENT)

0546580044

LET'S PROTECT OUR FEMALE COURSE MATES

Legon Student Offers Good Sex To Trap Robber

FOR OFFERING good sex and being obedient to Atta Kofi Kyei, alias ‘Fresh boy,’ an armed robber suspect, a level 200 student of the University of Ghana (name withheld) got her robbed items back from her assailant after allowing him to have sex with her.

The accused person who was later arrested and indentified by the raped victim after investigations by the police has been arraigned at an Accra Circuit Court. The court presided over by Mr. Francis Obiri has adjourned the case to February 26.

Briefing the court, the police prosecution told the court that, the complainants in the case are, a level 200 student of University of Ghana, Legon (1st Complainant) and Edward Kojo Appiah, a journalist with one of the local radio stations, (2nd complainant).

And the accused is Atta Kofi Kyei alias ‘fresh boy’ unemployed and lives at Agbogba, Accra.

He said, on December 14, 2014, the first complainant alighted from a vehicle close to Presbyterian Boys Senior High School, Legon, to cross the street to Evandy Hostels and while waiting for the road to clear to enable her cross, the accused person emerged from the nearby bush, attacked and threatened the first complainant with a knife, held and ordered her to remain silent else he would kill her.

According to the prosecution, the accused collected her Nokia mobile phone valued at GH¢1, 200.00, and cash of GH¢800.00 and then dragged her into the bush and forcibly undressed her, used the removed dress to blindfold her and forcibly had sex with her.

Interestingly, during the sexual intercourse, the first complainant realized she could lose all if she failed to have a good look at her assailant, and told the accused person to allow her see him to enable both of them enjoy the act together.

The accused person he said obliged and removed the dress which enabled the complainant to have a good look at the accused person.

He told the court that, after the sexual intercourse, the accused person ordered the first complainant to move out of the bush and never look behind. When the first complainant was leaving the scene, the accused person ordered her to stop and at that point handed over her property to her for good performance and obedience, after he had used the first complainant’s phone to call someone.

According to him, the accused then bolted as the complainant was joining the road. The complainant subsequently lodged a complaint and was issued with a medical form with which she attended hospital.

On two different occasions, according to the prosecution, the accused used an Airtel number to call the complainant and reminded her of the act he took her through.

He said the accused person who was using the said area for his activities, on January 1, 2015, at about 00: 42am attacked the second complainant and a witness in the case when they were about to cross the road to board a vehicle at Atomic Junction by firing a gunshot.

He robbed him of one Toshiba laptop computer, Asus tablet, Nokia Lumia mobile, Ipad mini, certificates, 2 pen drives and audio recorder all valued at GH¢6,000.00 and cash of GH¢140.00.

After the act the accused person fled into the nearby bush and the second complainant reported the matter to the police.

During investigations, the complainant who visited the police station identified the accused person as the one who committed the offences against them and during interrogation; the accused admitted having committed the offence against the first complainant, but denied that of the second complainant. After investigations, the accused was charged before the court.

Source: Daily Heritage

 I advice our ladies not to walk alone this semester especially in the evening and guys let's protect our dear ladies

OH MOTHER AFRICA!!!

By Adanu Paul Worlanyo


Oh Mother Africa!!!
Oh Mother Africa
The Mother of all humanity
From your bosom,
Rose the greatest civilization ever in human history
Through your sons and daughters,
You gave the world arts and sciences
Through your dark forests,
Emerged great scientists of all centuries
Through your fertile lands,
You managed to feed the world,
When humanity was at the brink of its destruction,
You gave it Christianity
When you mastered fire,
You contributed to the spread of humanity allover the planet.

Oh Mother Africa
The most beautiful mother on planet earth
The mother of love and hospitality
The mother of peace, tolerance and reconciliation
Your sons and daughters were raped
They were enslaved
The white man called you a savage
They exploited you,
Discriminated and oppressed you
They finally conquered you
But with all this you loved them and you never revenged.
You welcomed them again and ate with them
What a wonderful mother you are.

Oh Mother Africa
For so long you have been crippled
Your old days of glory are faded past the Horizon
One day,
Your sons and daughters,
Should unite for peace, love and prosperity
No longer should you be the beggar of the world
On your two feet you will rise,
To make your children proud of you.
One day, mother Africa, you will get the respect that you deserve on the world stage

NUGS WEEK CELEBRATION A GOOD IDEA BUT......

It was a successful NUGS dinner and I commend the NUGS President and his team for all the efforts especially bringing high profile personalities like the Education Minister to grace the occasion.  However I must state that I was disappointed that the Minister of Education decided to use the rare opportunity of engaging student leaders to tell us stories than to dive into the current array of issues bedevilling students of this country.

I was also unhappy that we decided not to officially draw her attention to at least mention the issues that matter most.

But I pray next time we will take notice of this because if we fail to seize the little opportunities to fight for the student good, then the apathy will deepen and in future we will have to work extra hard to redeem our image even among our colleague students.

Kudos to the NUGS President for the initiative, it's a good one even though I didn't like the idea of the president chairing his own dinner that he is organising, I admired his calm throughout the period because believe you me, I couldn't help but to heckle the Minister thinking she will even talk a little about the current issues in education such as:

1. Teaching and learning materials for Basic schools
2. School fees for senior high schools
3. Getfund subventions not being paid
4. The negligible amount paid as thesis grant for postgraduate research students
5. The level of progress for the 200  day Senior High Schools
6. The destiny of free SHS
7. The recent publication that government is not thinking of letting students pay for utility ( at least some assurance verbally)
8. The GetFund Board which is taking too long to inaugurate
9. The 2014 promise by government through the budget to provide 50,000 laptops for freshers at the Tertiary level, of which we did not even see one and yet we cannot tell where these monies went.

And a host of other issues that we believe our Sector Minister should have taken time to at least address some of them for us.

I love NUGS and and I love the students of Ghana just as we all claim we do, but let us go beyond our claims of fighting the student cause and actually fight it.

My name is PD and am on the side of the Poor Student.

PRESS STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE STUDENTS’ REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL (SRC) OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINES AND TECHNOLOGY (UMaT), TARKWA Dated January 22, 2015.

With reference to our petition dated January 10, 2015 which was addressed to His Excellency the President of the Republic of Ghana stating our anxiety pertaining to what has been described as the government’s intention to withdraw subventions on electricity to tertiary institutions in Ghana, and also the press statement issued on the same day, We the students' Representative Council of University of Mines and Technology, UMaT, Tarkwa demanded that the government respond and come clear on issues pertaining to the withdrawal of subvention and subsidies for public tertiary institutions in Ghana.

We would like to bring to the attention of the general public that on January 16, 2015 the Ministry of Education in a release signed by the Hon. Minister of Education, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang, responded to our call and was clear on the matter; “The Ministry will like to assure all students and the tertiary education community that no such decision has been taken by government.”

In light of this, we would like to state that:

1) Our pleas were responded to within only two working days upon receipt of our petition.

2) Our expectations have been met in the response from the ministry.

We therefore express our appreciation to H.E The  President of the Republic of Ghana and his government for responding to our petition without delay.  We must say that we are happy about the time frame the response to our claims arrived. The government have demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that it is a listening government who is committed towards the enhancement of tertiary education in the country. With this latest development, the ordinary Ghanaian student has hope moving into the future. We are thankful to the Minister of education and last but not the least, the Ghanaian Media for making it possible for our voices to be heard. May God bless you all.....Thank you

LONG LIVE UMaT SRC

LONG LIVE STUDENT ACTIVISM

LONG LIVE GHANA

Signed...........

Oteng Amponsah Enock

UMaT SRC President

0246122392/0505450458

Sekyiama Okyere Ben

0204194184

PRO

SPEECH DELIVERED BY PROSPER DZITSE, PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL UNION OF GHANA STUDENTS AT THE LAUNCH OF THE 1ST NATIONAL UNION OF GHANA STUDENTS WEEK CELEBRATION ON THE 22ND OF JANUARY 2015.

Mr. Chairman, invited Guests, all protocol duly observed, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a great privilege to stand before you on this special day, a day that marks the beginning of a new chapter in the life of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS).

Mr.  Chairman, on a special day like this, it is very important for me to officially welcome everyone to the MAIDEN EDITION of the National Union of Ghana Students Week Celebration.

NUGS WEEK CELEBRATION is a celebration meant to engage serious minds on issues that bother on our education.

Many people have consistently said that NUGS has become a body that has lost its relevance in as far as its contribution to national development is concerned.

Mr. Chairman, after taking over as the 48th President of NUGS, I keep on asking myself; what is it that has created that impression in the minds of such people. The answer to me is one!  The only thing NUGS has been consistent in doing is, organising of congress and electing of its national officers. Most at times these elections are jeopardized by fighting, name calling, political manipulations, among others.

Many a student leader of today are only interested in electing people to positions and having fun. Intellectual discourse is not given a priority. I am sorry to say we are doomed as a country if we continue like this. We need to cherish constructive engagement in order to continuously find ways and means by which we can shape the future of our dear country. This is what we need, and it can't be done by just the selected few. We are collectively responsible for what becomes of our dear country's educational system. We complain on daily basis that our  educational system is not giving us the needed result, I am sorry it is not enough to complain, countries and organizations that develop do not have talkers than doers. Doers are those who make the needed difference. We must all do our parts.

Mr. Chairman, the 2014/2015 administration of NUGS, realising the challenges that confront us have decided to put this week celebration together in order to discuss how to properly contribute our quota towards the development of our dear country in as far as the making of educational policies are concern aside the Congresses that we organize annually.

We are working hard so that by the end of this week celebration, a comprehensive communiqué will be issued on the theme ‘‘ENSURING TOTAL COMMITMENT TO QUALITY EDUCATION ; the role of stakeholders’’.

We are going to critically work on the role of students, the role of private individuals and the role of Government and its agencies in ensuring that as a country we are not just giving our people education, but we are also committed to ensuring that the education received and given is of higher standard.

Mr. Chairman, NUGS is fully aware that we are a country on the move and the contribution of each and everyone is highly needed and this is part of our contribution as a union. We are looking forward to having greater collaboration with each and everyone in order to make this vision a reality.

God bless NUGS,

and God bless our Homeland Ghana and make Our Nation Great and Strong.

" THE APPRENTICE KNUST"

Do you know that about 45% of University Graduates end up being UNEMPLOYED each year?

Have you always wanted to learn a skill in addition to your academics which would exclude your name from the books of "The Unemployed Association of Ghana?

Then this is a MUST grab opportunity;


   NUGS KNUST presents an Entrepreneurial programme dubbed "The APPRENTICE KNUST" to help equip students with skills in bead making, making fresh yoghurt, sobolo, website development and others.

📌Meet seasoned resource personnel who will educate you on how to start up a business, Maintain and grow one's business.                  
📌Embrace this exciting and empowering opportunity.                        
📌 Acquire a skill today,and reduce graduate unemployment.                                                       📌Date:17th January,2015.
📌Venue:Indece Dining hall.    
    📌Time:9am prompt.    
            
  Aluta continua...
Victoria Asserta!!!

Signed

Evelyn Mutinta Dugbakuo Sappor
(Loc.  NUGS President)
0246601503

Mary Magdalene Osei-Wusu
(NUGS PRO)
0501355048

Blaise konlan
(NUGS SEC.KNUST)
0205830006.