Students insist on fees reduction

Accra, Aug. 2, GNA - Students of the University of Ghana, Legon on Monday said they would continue to demonstrate, picket and barricade till their demand for the reduction of their school fees were met. A statement issued and signed by the Acting President of the Students' Representative Council, of the University of Ghana, Ms Josephine Adwoa Ashia said "we cannot pay between 2.4 million and 3.7 million cedis as the current fees indicate; indeed we cannot pay anything higher than last academic year's user fees".

The statement said the University fees for 2003/2004 academic year were unacceptable if the Vice Chancellor and Hall Tutors could not change facilities in the lecture halls in the past year then the authorities could not just increase academic user and residential facility user fees. It said; "we have not seen significant changes in maintenance of facilities since last year and so students stress emphatically that there should be no increment in residential facility user fees and academic user fees".

It said the amalgamated sport fees is also unjustifiable, adding, "the initial fee was 25,000 cedis and we are now paying 75,000 per head which is over one billion cedis and we all know we do not need one billion cedis to maintain athletes". The statement also mentioned the medical care fee as not being maintained even though most of the students did not attend the University Hospital and called for maintaining the hostel project fees of 50,000 cedis. It said a self-development fee, which includes a computer charge of 300,000 cedis is highly unacceptable and called for the suspension of the programme.