In life, we all strive for perfection and all seek to improve upon whatever we already have. It is therefore only pertinent that when one is down, humanity finds ways of raising the other up. “he who is seeking to do the best thing needs to be assisted”. This is an Akan adage which has absolute significance in the life of every individual.
It is therefore absurd that any government in the quest to help its citizenry will bring those up down to the level of those already down.
Government is citing inequality as its reason for taking off utility grants to tertiary schools. At the moment, an average Academic facility user fee (school fees) of public tertiaries in Ghana is GH₵900.00 and residential facility user fee also averaged at GH₵650.00. Already, parents are finding this amount difficult to bear. With the removal of the utility grant, there is the likelihood of an addition of an average GH₵300.00 to this already neck hanging exorbitant moneys burdening the ordinary Ghanaian.
Education is supposed to be a right not a privilege. Every Ghanaian child has that right to be educated. It is not supposed to be a reserve for the rich. Education should not be an avenue to create luxury for the rich at the expense of the vulnerable.
The 1992 constitution in Article 25(1)C states “higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means and in particular, by progressive introduction of free education”. The Article 25(1) A&B deals with Basic school and Secondary education.
By this provision, education should be progressively free and not progressively expensive beyond the ability of the ordinary Ghanaian.
The lazy way of always bringing those up down to measure for equality is sickening.
“We want to increase intake in college of education so let’s cut allowance off”, it’s bad. Increase the allowance, build infrastructure and let that be a motivation for people to opt for college of education, not this lazy cocoon ways. You want to bridge the gap between nonresidents and residential students so you share cost with the vulnerable students? It’s sluggish. Build infrastructure and let people move to university provided halls or find better ways of helping the non-resident, don’t push utility cost to the residential students.
If this is what governance is, then everybody could be president? Governance is not for lazy people with lazy ideologies, it’s for people who have the mindset, the ability, the wisdom and the knowledge to up those who are down not to down those who are up.
Okudzeto Ablakwa is a disappointment.
Many would have thought that Okudzeto Ablakwa having been a student leader before would have been there to speak for the ordinary students. With him a young man with just a first degree been made to take charge of the tertiary division of education and to deal with professors was meant to be that, he will use his experience as a former student leader at the tertiary level to fight the cause of tertiary students. However, he has all of a sudden turned his back against the Ghanaian student and is the one spearheading this “murderous” policy.
I am therefore calling on my national executive to bite the bullet and speak to this government in the language he understands. Over 75% Ghanaians are school going people, you cannot toil with the lives of these people. Enough of the boardroom, roundtable and “k[ nom tee” discussions. “Aluta” should be the way forward. We cannot fail the ordinary Ghanaian. They have entrusted in our hands their power and voice. The national leaders of NUGS should rise up, all local NUGS presidents should gang up against this treacherous policy. Let speak the words of this government.
Prosper Dzitse’s administration will never be forgiven if this policy succeeds under his tenure. The lengthy chat I have had with some of my colleaques the Local NUGS Presidents indicates that, we are ever ready to give our national leadership any needed support to fight this cause. However, we shall not entertain any cowardice move.
The ordinary Ghanaian students cannot be burden with extra cost because of the failure of any inept government.
Aluta continua! Victoria Ascerta.
Education is a right! Not a privilege!!.
Kwasi Frimpong
Loc. NUGS President
UEW-Ajumako campus
#SayItRight
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