The Ghana Union of Professional Students (GUPS) says it is against the proposal by government to charge tertiary students resident on campus for using utility services. The leadership of the Union indicated this in a press release on Thursday, April 30, 2015.
Below is the full press release:
The attention of the Ghana Union of Professional Students has been drawn to an issue making rounds in the media circles and the public domain which bothers on a proposed policy to charge students of tertiary institutions, the full cost of their utility bills.
This position, according to reports and our background check was a culmination of discussions which were held between the Ministry of Education and Student Leaders on the subject of efficient use of utilities in our public Universities.
We are also informed of a document making rounds on social media and other platforms which is purported to be bearing the signature of approval of this proposal by some student leaders as evidence of a consensus reached between the Ministry and Student Leaders at a stakeholders meeting held at the University of Professional Studies (UPSA) on March 23 this year.
The Union wishes to place on record for the benefit of the general public and its entire constituents that GUPS has NOT made any inputs into any such proposal and by extension, is not a signatory to the said document.
Again, the Union wishes to register a non-negotiable stance against any such proposal of burdening the ordinary Ghanaian student with the undeserved plight of having to pay fully for utilities while receiving education in our public tertiary Institutions.
We consequently advise government against deliberating on any proposal in this direction whether at the Ministerial or Cabinet Level.
We also deem it important to remind government that the implementation of such a policy will only be a contradictory position to the Constitutionally enshrined provision of working towards making education PROGRESSIVELY FREE at all levels, to which this government professes to be committed to.
We must also state without any shred of equivocation that, we are ready to exhaust all non-violent mechanisms to ensure that such an injurious proposal is not considered at all.
If we however do not make any headway with this diplomatic means, we cannot assure government that we and our constituents will be able to hold ourselves from using radical methods of negotiation to drum home our stance should government initiate any moves to go ahead with this policy.
Charging the ordinary Ghanaian student the full cost of his or her utility bill is a policy which is very much averse to our Principles as a union especially in the face of stifling economic conditions in the country and we shall oppose it with all the vehemence at our disposal.
Finally we wish to add that GUPS as a union recognizes that the efficient management of the utility sector must be a shared responsibility between government, civil society and all other stakeholders. We are therefore ready to suggest viable alternatives to tackling the problem rather than charging the ordinary Ghanaian student with the full cost of utility.
Long Live Ghana!
Long Live the Union of Professionals
Signed:
Benjamin Alpha Aidoo
General Secretary, GUPS
(0240343143)
