Official admits Tamale students were not informed

The Northern Regional Co-ordinator of the Distance Education Programme, Salifu Azidow Fuseini has admitted that the second year post-diploma students of the University of Cape Coast who were not allowed to write their end of semester examination last weekend were not informed about the decision to stop defaulting students from writing the examination.

According to him, the students were not at the centre at the time the officials from the university announced the decision.

He was throwing more light on Times publication attributed to him that some 170 post diploma students of the university were denied the right to write the examination for failing to pay in full their semester fees.

Mr. Fuseini explained that it was only the first year post-diploma business and education students who were present when the information was given.

He said although the matter of the fees was discussed at the last meeting with the students and the officials from the UCC, this was after the second year students had left the centre.

The co-ordinator indicated that since the students were meeting only once in every month, it was very difficult for the centre to have communicated it to them.

He said he had hoped however, that the first year students would have informed the affected students but this was apparently not done.

Mr. Fuseini described the situation as unfortunate and indicated that the University authorities and the centre were doing everything possible to ensure that the problem was amicably resolved.

Meanwhile, the students on their part have explained that they were always allowed to pay part of the bill at the beginning of every year and settle arrears at the end of the semester but this was not the case for this semester.

They therefore wanted to know why this time round, the university authorities took a different stand without prior information.

Awal Alhassan, one of the affected students, stressed that no first year student told him anything about the fees, arguing that it was not even the duty of the first year students to inform them but rather the university.

He expressed shock at the decision explaining that he was present at the last meeting with officials from UCC where they claimed the information was given but no such announcement was made.

Source: The Ghanaian Times