Accra Poly Students Levied 300 Cedis To Help Pay Ecg Debt

As part of measures to settle a debt of more than 2.7 million cedis owed the Electricity Company of Ghana, management of Accra Polytechnic have levied each student an amount of 150 and 300 cedis for non-residents and residents respectively.

Power supply to the school was recent cut by the Electricity Company of Ghana leaving the school to run on power plants at a daily cost of 2,500 cedis.

According to management, they are unable to keep up with the daily spending and can neither afford an eighty per cent part payment arrangement proposed by ECG due to financial constraints.

In an exclusive interview with Univers news, secretary of the Students Representative Council of Accra Polytechnic, Ms. Doreen Danso said management had issued warnings students who failed to pay the amount risked being denied the opportunity of writing their end of semester examination.

“They said government didn’t cater for utility bills in our fees so that’s why they are charging the extra amount. For those in the hostels they will use the rest [of the money] to fuel the plants at the hostels,” she said.

She added that “They said if you don’t pay you won’t get your seat number for your exams and apart from that, if students agree that they are not going to pay then it means they have to close the school down.”

Univers news gathers that the decision by management is being faced with stiff opposition from majority of the student population who insist they have already paid enough in tuition fees for the academic year.

Public Relations Officer of the Polytechnic, Ms Fausta Ganaa in an earlier interview stated that consultations were ongoing with the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) to discuss the way forward on the matter.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education is yet to comment on the development.