Accra, July 28, GNA – The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) on Wednesday said it was shocked at the National Council for Tertiary Education’s (NCTE’s) announcements that it had agreed with the Ministry of Education to accept a 30 per cent hike in Academic Facility User Fees for 2004/2005.
A statement signed by Mr Ken Abotsi, President of NUGS, said: “The statement is not only calculated at deceiving the public and embarrassing the students leadership but also a breach of the mutual agreement…”
It said the meeting, which NUGS attended did not arrive at such a decision because the students’ body maintained that Academic and Residential Facility User Fees should not be increased while other fee components were negotiated by local representatives councils. The statement said as a result, the NCTE promised to consult the Ministry of Education and to inform NUGS later, which it had not done.
“It smacks of mischief that while waiting to hear from them as agreed they should issue a statement suggesting that there is an agreement.
“We thoroughly disassociate ourselves from the NCTE’s statement and firmly stand by our earlier position of zero percentage increment on academic and residential facility user fees for the 2004/2005 academic year,” it said.
The statement entreated the NCTE and school administrators not to take the stance of student’s leadership to engage in constructive dialogue for granted.
Source: GhanaWeb
