The Coalition of Tertiary Students, Ghana, say they will resist any attempt by government to make tertiary students resident on campus bear the cost of utilities.
According to them, they will not sit and watch government pass on its social compact expectations on its students.
Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Tertiary, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa early this month announced at a meeting of Campus Connect in Kumasi that, as part of measures to reduce the pressure on government coffers, tertiary students resident on campus would be charged for using utility services.
However, at a press conference organised Tuesday, the president of the Coalition of Tertiary Students, Ghana, Mr Duke Aaron Sasu said, “We students and student leaders oppose vehemently this ill thought through Government policy. We would resist any attempt by government to force the hands of students to bear the arrears of utility bills owed by the universities as a consequence of the failure of government of Ghana to exercise its responsibilities.”
They have therefore warned of mass nationwide student rallies to press home their demand.
The coalition has also asked all tertiary students across the country to embark on a ‘red alert crusade’ to register their displeasure, adding, “Every student of Ghana must identify with something red to register our displeasure until the Government calls off this sickening policy.”
The coalition is made up of student leaders of the Wa and Nyankpala campuses of the University for Development Studies (UDS), the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Kumasi and Takoradi Polytechnics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), and the University of Education Winneba (UEW) Kumasi Campus.
